The Game
by Electric Smile
Summary: Four people must band together to save the world. Easy,right? THE END! HI: i changed the very last chapter in a major way in order to set up a better sequel. :)
1. Prologue

Well. Let's try another big one?

Substrata

"Why do you continue to play at this?" the woman asked with an irritated sigh.

The man simply responded with a smirk, and said, "Deal the cards, witch. Show me just how hopeless it all is again."

She closed her eyes, focusing, and did what he asked. He didn't believe in tarot. She didn't know why he asked this of her sometimes. It seemed to amuse him, but she couldn't imagine he found his own amusement to be worth the time and money to come here and watch a woman he hated read the cards for him. But, it gave her the chance to try to talk Bison down, to get an idea of what sorts of things he was getting into. And now, more than ever, was this important. She flipped the first card. The Tower, inverted. She smiled slightly at this. "A crumbling empire," she said, looking up at him through her lashes.

He snorted, and rolled his eyes.

"You must simply realise it, Bison. It's coming to an end. You can come back, over and over and over, and it will always be the same result." Death. She placed the card beneath the first. He reached towards the card, and inverted it as well.

"Means nothing to me," he replied.

"It will mean something to everyone, eventually," she responded, and laid another card. The snarling face of the Devil looked back, and she frowned until she noticed another card was poking out from beneath it-just one corner, but it was still significant. She pulled it gently from under the Devil. It was the Hanged Man, inverted, and she smiled with delight. Never before had she managed to deal two cards at once without noticing, and never had she been more grateful to make a mistake. "Even he has a chance."

"Who?" Bison demanded, but she did not reply. Another card was laid, and she frowned because of it. It was the World, inverted at the feet of the Devil/Hanged Man. "Here, he still has a choice," she said, tapping the two cards atop the World. "For he, too, is one who will come into a great power, and only he can decide what to do with it. To stray from his duties to pursue selfish ends..." she tapped the Devil, "...would be the death of this world. But if he were to be set to the proper path..." Here she tapped the Hanged Man. "He could save not only himself, but all of us."

"Tell me who he is, Rose."

"That's privileged information, Bison." She returned to the cards, laying two more on either side of the upturned World. The Empress and Emperor stared back, and she was happy to see they were both turned upright. "Those two, they will be the ones to ultimately decide the fate of this world. For if they can not turn their errant kin to his path, then no one can, and the world will suffer for it."

"And what of the last one...?" Bison urged.

She laid the next card. The Magician. She scrutinised the card, noticing imperfections in the surface which had not been there before. "He..." she began to say, but she stopped for fear of informing Bison of the individual's identity. She could not give him any more than she had already. "He will be just as important as the rest, for he will be the one they must find to stop it all. They're all required for it to happen, but he has been...he's been changed as well," she said, voice faltering as she began to realise what the imperfections in the card meant. Bison knew them all, had witnessed their strengths at their basic levels, and would not realise it until it was too late to use the information to his advantage. She was grateful for this much. At least, then, the world would still have a chance.


	2. The End of SIN

This fic is deviating from the storyline in SFIV in some ways, most notably in that Vega doesn't leave the S.I.N. building as he does in the game. I only read the wiki on this stuff, so I don't really know if Ken, Ryu and Sakura were there at the time the building began to explode. The article on it is kind of hard to follow-one minute Ryu is being fought over by Akuma and Gouken, the next he's in a desert with Ken and I don't really know what's going on...So..sorry if it's confusing. Is S.I.N. also located in Thailand? Also, does anyone know the age of Guile's daughter Amy? Thanks for any answers...  


* * *

  
The sound of shattering glass startled her, and she spun around to find the source of the noise. A lithe figure with a masked face. Her eyes narrowed, and she assumed a defensive stance. But instead of attacking, he grinned. "I hope you weren't looking for this," he said, waving the flash drive around as the alarms began to blare. There was a hissing noise as gas escaped the pipes above them, and a warning sounded, ordering the evacuation of all personnel within the next two minutes. Before Chun-Li could make her move, the man was gone from the room, having slammed the door shut behind him. It would lock on its own in an effort to contain the 'fire' that the system believed had broken out in this area due to the triggering of the alarm.

"No!" she cried, throwing all of her weight against the door, but to no avail. She covered her nose and mouth with her hand as the gas became a thick mist in the room. She didn't have a lot of time left. She raced to the computer, still on from Vega's activities. "Come on," she whispered as the files began to copy to the disc. She looked around the room, searching for any other escape route. The building shook, and she grabbed the desk for stability. Something had exploded, the loud noise still ringing in her ears. Her heart pounded in her chest as she began to realise that she would almost certainly die here.

There was another explosion, nearer this time, and after the initial sound had died away, she heard a man screaming in agony. She held her breath, trying to figure out who it was, and prayed that it wasn't Guile searching for her. But no. The screaming man let out a string of curses in Spanish, and she leaned against the wall. She heard him choking now, on smoke, she supposed. She cringed at the horrible sound, until suddenly, it stopped, and she hung her head. "Well," she whispered, "at least he's coming down with me." She took one last glance at the computer, which had completed copying the files. The disk was ejected from the drive, and she put it in its case, gripping it tightly. Content with at least having done that, she felt her eyelids grow heavy, and she passed out.  
...

" Come on, this place is coming down!" Ken shouted over the explosions. Sakura gasped as the ground beneath her shook, and she reached a hand out to steady herself against the wall. She felt a strong arm around her, and Ryu was by her side, urging her on.

"We can't stop, even for a second!" he said. "Those explosions are getting closer!" She nodded in reply, trying her best to keep up in spite of her injuries. There was another thunderous noise, and they could feel the heat of sudden flames on their backs. Cracks formed in the walls beside them, and plaster fell from the ceilings in chunks. Ken regained his footing quickly, shoving open the heavy double doors at the end of the hallway. Gas wafted down from the ceiling as alarms began to blare.

"That can't be good," Ken said, glancing up at the quickly forming cloud.

"The gas'll put out the fires but..." Ryu paused, avoiding a piece of the ceiling as it collapsed to where he'd just been standing. "It'll put us out too, if we're exposed for too long!"

"Good thing we're close to the exit!" Sakura cried as she pointed out towards the main entrance of the compound. S.I.N. employees were filtering out quickly, not even giving the intruders a second thought. The trio was happy for that small favour. They ran towards the open doors, leading outside. It was a relief to no longer have a crumbling roof overhead, or flames chasing them down narrow corridors, and they didn't even look back. "All right!" Sakura shouted. "What a rush!"

"We need to find Guile and the others," Ryu said. "They'll get us out of here." The three fighters made their way into the jungle, leaving the collapsing building behind them. A plume of dark smoke was rising steadily into the otherwise clear sky.

"You made it!" Cammy cried as she spotted the three familiar faces running up the hillside to the waiting chopper. "We were beginning to worry..."

"You know us," Ken said. "Fashionably late and all."

"Is Chun-Li okay?" Sakura cried upon seeing the doubled-over girl in the chopper, a thin coating of dust powdering her hair and clothes. She was holding an oxygen mask to her face, eyes squeezed shut as she took steady breaths, making Sakura worry even more.

"She should be," Guile responded for her, urging the others into the vehicle. "She was exposed to the gas for longer than she should've been. We're going to get her to a hospital as soon as possible, though."

"What happened in there?" Ryu said. "What caused all of the explosions?"

"The best we can figure," Cammy said, pulling the door shut beside them, "is that someone's triggered a self-destruct mechanism. We're unsure as to who it was, and why. There's the possibility of a weapon's malfunction, as well." The rotors spun noisily and the chopper took off.

Chun-Li moved suddenly, lifting her hand towards Cammy. "Vega..." she said in a raspy voice. She cleared her throat, and her voice was easier to hear. "It was Vega."

"But I thought he was one of them?" Sakura asked, confused.

"S.I.N. loyalties began to split," Guile explained. "Those loyal to Seth, and those loyal to Bison. Guess which side Vega is on."

"Was," Chun-Li spat. "He's dead."

"One less Bison-creep to worry about," Ken muttered.

"And I managed to get this as well." Chun-Li pulled out a disc in a slimline case, extending it towards Guile. "It's evidence linking S.I.N. to Shadaloo. It should be enough to convince Interpol that Shadaloo is very much alive, and still lethal as ever."

"Good work, Chun-Li," Guile said, staring intently at the object in his hands. "Maybe things will finally start to settle down..."  
...

The whirring rotors died down as the chopper touched land. Dust was kicked up into the air, causing a few techs in the area to wave their hands in front of their faces to ward it away. Two uniformed men were already running to the chopper, guns in hand. The door was opened, and Guile stepped out into the rubble of the former S.I.N. building. It had been two months since the destruction of the compound, and a great amount of progress had been made in clearing away the debris.

The two young men outside the chopper saluted instantly. "Major Guile, sir! We didn't expect you back to the site so soon!" one of the young men said.

"Just want to see how things are progressing. Can I speak with the forensics and salvage heads on duty?" Guile asked.

"Yes, sir," the kid replied, and pulled out his radio. "Major Guile requests a conversation with Perry and Stenner."

"Copy, they will be contacted immediately," the voice replied. Guile thanked the two soldiers and dismissed them. Moments later, two men approached, both wearing official Interpol identification cards around the neck. They exchanged greetings, and got down to business.

"Mr. Stenner," Guile said, "was anything at all salvageable? Weapons, data, anything?"

Stenner gave a shrug. "It's all been reduced to scrap metal for the most part. Between the concussions, the intense heat, and the collapsed building, not a whole lot was left in tact. Weapons exploded or melted altogether. Computers are all wrecked. A few hard drives might yield some information, but I can't imagine it being much more than what Agent Xiang retrieved already. There was a fridge full of unidentified substances in test tubes marked with batch numbers. We're guessing they were finally branching out into biological agents, but the samples are being sent off for testing back west. Luckily, that didn't leak out, if it is what we think it is."

Guile nodded. "Good, keep me in the loop on those biohazards." He turned to Perry, and said, "How about you? Anything interesting?"

"You haven't the slightest idea," the man said with a bit of a sigh. "The past few days have been incredibly exciting. A few bodies were discovered in the wreckage-all appearing to be S.I.N. employees, judging from the uniforms. Just normal, everyday people, as far as the results of DNA tests are telling. But, twenty-six different-or, not so different-uh, beings, were found throughout the compound, and their DNA strands are unlike any other human's, and they appear to be partly mechanical in nature. I've never seen this sort of technology before-I mean, robotic limbs, yes, but this is beyond the usual joining of man and machine. It's like...a fusion."

Guile knew just what the man was talking about. "S.I.N. weapons," he said. "In a battle, they collect the data of their opponents, and it becomes pretty difficult to fight them when they literally know your every move."

"Amazing, simply amazing. It's a shame these people work with Shadaloo, they could have such a future in more legitimate careers," the man said.

"So have you identified all of the corpses yet? You can verify that none of them are civilians?" Guile asked. It was the question he'd been dreading to ask, but knew he must. He wouldn't be able to stand the thought of some innocent-likely kidnapped for experimentation to begin with-dying at the S.I.N. compound and being buried dishonourably alongside these people.

Perry nodded. "There weren't a whole lot, really, but yes. There's a list of names if you'd like to review it. Every one has been confirmed as a member of S.I.N. through the roster that was included in Agent Xiang's data. And like I said, they were all in uniform."

Guile nodded. "All right, good to know. Then-" He stopped suddenly, and shook his head. "Wait, every corpse was in uniform?" he asked, a thought having suddenly struck him.

"Save for those 26 non-humans, yes. Why?"

"I need to see that list of names," he replied.

The scientist led the soldier to the central working area of the forensics team where a few computers were set up on simple tables away from the rubble. The man picked up a thin stack of papers, which were stapled together. He handed them over to Guile. "Here. All the info on the bodies. Gives their names, dates of birth, country of origin, role within the organisation, and their S.I.N. photo ID. The little marks next to the names were made after we cross-referenced the roster to make sure they really were part of the organisation," Perry explained as Guile leafed through the few pages of unfamiliar faces. When he finally reached the end of it, he checked it again, a little slower this time as he studied each face intently.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath as he finished again. "Are you sure you've found every body?"

"The place is empty, sir," Perry replied with a shake of his head. "I mean, it's been months since they began cleaning it out. As you can see, there's not much left but piles of rubble waiting to be taken away now. If there was a body, or even fragments of one, we would've found it."

Guile looked back down at the papers in his hands, and gripped tightly. "Then I have a bit of a problem."


	3. Assignments

"I heard him die."

"Are you certain you heard what you heard?"

"I can't believe you're doing this."

Chun-Li crossed her arms defensively, shaking her head, eyes downcast. Guile sighed, and leaned back against the wall. "I'm not doing anything," he responded, unsure as to why she seemed so offended.

"You're accusing me of lying," she replied.

"No," Guile said with a shake of his head. This was what it was all about then? That she thought he'd called her a liar? Or maybe it had more to do with the stress of the situation. He knew witnessing death-even that of a hated enemy-was something that stuck with you. Even if you wanted that person to suffer, it still horrified you when you finally witnessed it happening. So, he began to understand why she may feel so offended at having a traumatic event such as this being discounted, treated as if it hadn't happened. "I'm simply trying to understand what's going on here. If you say you heard him choking and screaming, and then it all stopped, then I believe you heard that. But that doesn't exactly mean he _died._"

"What else could it mean? This was S.I.N., not Shadaloo, no one would've bothered with saving him," she responded, throwing her arms out angrily. She began to walk towards the other side of the room, then turned to face him. "Even if it _was _Shadaloo, no one would've bothered with saving him. We've got on record inside sources confessing to how disliked he was by his subordinates, so why would they bother?"

"You're forgetting about Bison," Guile responded.

She tilted her head, then rolled her eyes skyward. She looked back to the blond man, and said, "You think he saved Vega? That he'd risk his life for a subordinate?"

"Well, Bison always did always treat Vega like a favoured pet," Guile muttered with a shrug. "And he does have that annoying teleportation capability. It would account for why the sounds you heard stopped so suddenly."

"It just doesn't make sense to me. How would Bison know where Vega was? That he was in danger to begin with? And even if he did favour Vega, there's no chance that he'd risk his own life for him," she said, shaking her head. "I'm almost certain I heard him dying. If he was dragged out of there, it was by someone else, and he was not alive."

"Then if that's the case, we're faced with the questions of who took the body, to where, and why?" Guile said, ticking the points off with his fingers.

Chun-Li shifted her weight, putting a hand to her hip, and said immediately, "I'll make it my next assignment to find out."

"Chun-Li..." the American started, shaking his head. "We have no leads. We don't even have evidence that his body was moved to another site, or that he's even dead. The place of the presumed death is essentially non-existent now. How would you even begin to look for him?"

She looked sharply at Guile, and replied, "I don't know. But I'll find a way. Besides, if he is alive, he likes the attention of his adoring public too much to stay in hiding. And that's when I'll find him, and put him away for good."  
...

"The remaining twenty-five bionic weapons are confirmed destroyed by the forensics team working under Interpol," the woman said, sliding the report to her superior. The man glanced over the few pages, and nodded.

"Good. Do they know what it is they're handling?" he asked, looking up to his agent.

She sighed, knowing he wouldn't particularly like the answer. "Unfortunately, yes. Two weeks ago, US Air Force Major Guile informed the forensics head on site of the weapons' purpose, and what they are capable of."

"Damn it. How did he come across this information? S.I.N. valued the secrecy of their work above all else," the man said.

"He's fought one of the weapons before," she responded. "He was assigned to the S.I.N. case, along with Agent Xiang, who collected all of the data tying S.I.N. to Shadaloo moments before the building was destroyed."

The man nodded, and said, "We can't have any information about these weapons being released. They're too powerful, and if someone were to get the bright idea of recreating them, well, we'd be right back where we started here." He looked up at the red haired woman, and said, "I want the data on these beings erased. All of it. Every blue print, every disc used to program them, every piece of the weapons themselves, even the data recovered by Agent Xiang, if necessary. These things never existed, am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"And Maya?" The woman stopped before opening the door of the office. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for the man to continue speaking. "Make sure Major Guile keeps his knowledge of these things to himself."

With a nod, she opened the door and left the room.  
...

"Serenity is a key point to meditation, you know."

Sakura groaned, and twisted her torso from side to side, and then sighed, collapsing forward into her crossed legs. "I know, Ryu-san, I know! It's just..so...boring..."

"It shouldn't be," he responded, eyes still closed. "There's plenty to entertain you. You shouldn't even be thinking of things like 'boredom' or 'entertainment'. You have to relax yourself. Listen to the world around you. That's your 'entertainment'."

"Okay," she said on an exhale, then righted herself, sitting up straight and folding her hands in her lap. She closed her eyes, and tried to relax. She was sitting on a rock, in the middle of a river. A few metres behind her and her mentor was a waterfall, creating the perfect droning ambience needed to meditate. The wind rustled the trees around them gently. There weren't any birds singing today, she noticed. Usually when they did this, there were birds. That's what she usually used to entertain herself through these 'meditations'. She knew it wasn't right to lie to her mentor, to tell him she'd most definitely been able to clear her mind and relax when really she'd been listening to bird calls and trying to identify what creature had made the sounds.

Sighing at herself for once again becoming distracted from the point of the entire exercise, she righted herself once more, and squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. The waterfall droned on, and she listened to it intently. It was the only thing she could hear, roaring and roaring on...She began to wonder if there were any fish in the water right now. She thought about salmon swimming upstream, jumping up through waterfalls. And then she groaned once more, causing Ryu to twitch at the noise, and hang his head. "I'm soooorry Ryu-san, it's just so hard to not think of _something_."

"It's okay, Sakura, you'll get the hang of it eventually," he said.

"How did you get the hang of it?" she asked, looking to him on the rock across from her.

He shrugged. " I, too, was easily distracted like you. But one day, I just started listening to what the earth had to say. I immersed myself in the rhythm of nature-the thunder of the falls, the rushing of the water, the rustling leaves in the wind, the snap of the twigs as an animal made its way through the woods, the chatter of the birds and other animals. It was all that filled my mind, and I could feel peaceful for a little while."

"Why? I mean didn't you have things to worry about?" she asked.

"Well, yes, everybody has their worries but..." He looked up, studying the forest around them. "But it's all trivial. This is what's real. When you become a part of it through meditation-your breathing, it adds to the beat that nature has already been playing for millions of years. You just have to fall in time with it, and it will remind you that in the end, you're alive and well, and that's what matters."

Sakura contemplated this. It was kind of difficult to swallow, really. She wasn't so great with the more spiritual stuff in their training, but she tried, at least, to understand. So, once again, she straightened herself, and tried to listen to the world do its thing. The wind had stopped, she noticed. So she tried to focus on the river and the falls instead. She shivered suddenly as something very cold dropped onto her face. She blinked, opening her eyes and wiping it away. A raindrop. Another landed gently on her bare leg. She looked down, and saw the tiny white point quickly beginning to melt, and she grew concerned. Raising her head skyward, she saw the grey clouds were raining down little white crystalline flecks, and she gasped. "Ryu-san! It's snowing!"

Ryu cracked an eye open, ready to reprimand her gently for toying with him like that, but then saw the powdery specks against her dark hair, and became concerned. "Snowing? It can't be snowing."

"Why not?" she asked, then stuck her tongue out, catching a flake.

"Because," Ryu replied, "it's only the middle of July."  
...

"It's started, hasn't it?"

"My, Bison, what brings you to my humble abode so suddenly?" the woman replied, not even looking up from her spread. She had been frowning over the very thing which he had come to inquire about. The World was upturned again, the Wheel of Fortune in a similar state. The Devil, Tower, and Death were prominent, telling of the misfortunes this world was about to face. The Emperor watched it all plaintively, and she waited for him to make his move. Judgement sealed the spread, and due to the cards around it, she felt a great pessimism for the future. But she of all people knew: nothing was certain until it happened.

"Spare me the sarcasm," the man hissed angrily, standing at her table. He leaned forward, large hands splayed against the wood. "Tell me who they are."

"Dearest," she said, finally meeting the gaze of her counterpart. "Not even they know who they are yet. Why should you be so privileged to know them before they do?"

His hands tensed against the table, fingernails digging in slightly, Psycho Power sparking momentarily. "You can play at this game all you'd like, Rose. But in the end, they'll be mine. And through them, I'll bring this world to its knees."

She glared up at him. "If that is the case, there would not even be a world left for you to rule, Bison. Are you really so blind as to believe that it could be any other way?"

"I will make it that way!" he snarled, losing his composure for a brief second. She did not seem startled. He took a deep breath, and ran a hand through his dark hair.

"Civilisation may bow to you, my brother," Rose said, rising to her feet. "But nature will not. In taking them and using them to your own selfish ends, you damn this planet, and everything on it, including yourself. This is not something you can control, like your dolls, or manipulate, like your soldiers. It will be what it was made to be, or _nothing _will be left!"

He gritted his teeth, and searched the room helplessly. He did not like the idea of something being out of his control. His eyes settled on the spread on the table, and he asked, "What do they say this time, witch?"

"The first has woken up," she said quietly, then looked back up at Bison. "It is as you've said-it's begun."


	4. Resolution and Snow

"My name is Chun-Li Xiang." She offered up her identification for confirmation. The man checked it and glanced at her before handing it back. "I'm with Interpol. I'm here to check over the site."

"You're a little late for that, aren't you?" the man asked. He didn't particularly care, really. There wasn't a whole lot left here. The forensics team was wrapping things up, and anything lethal was long gone from the site. Even the building itself had been dismantled by now, so there wasn't a lot to see.

"Not at all," she replied, unwilling to reveal her reasons for being there to the man at the checkpoint. She knew, somewhere inside of herself, that this was, as Guile had pointed out, a wild goose chase. It was a mission for personal satisfaction under the guise of official business. And Guile, of all people, understood that, which was why she was allowed to go through with it. He'd had similar missions in the searches for his good friend Charlie Nash, who'd disappeared after an attack on Bison years ago. Their cases were for completely opposite reasons though-he searched for a friend, she searched for an enemy. She wouldn't be able to think of anything else until she found Vega, whether dead or alive.

She treaded quietly towards the forensics team's makeshift computer 'lab', occasionally crunching broken glass underfoot. She took aside the first person she saw, and said, "Agent Xiang, Interpol, I'd like to speak with whomever inspected the bodies?" The younger man nodded, and called for a few other men. Three in all showed up, one wrapping up a cell phone call as he approached, the other jotting something down on a legal pad. "Hello, gentlemen. I need some information from you. How many bodies were found at the site?"

"Fifteen in all," the one with the pad replied automatically, finishing his notes. He looked up at her, then said, "The human ones, anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, confusion apparent.

"There were twenty-six non-human entities found in the building. Part machine, part human," the one who'd been on the phone replied. She remembered Seth and the S.I.N. cyborgs, and nodded.

"I'm looking for a particular person who I have reason to believe died here, near the intelligence area of the S.I.N. compound," she said. "Caucasian male, roughly six feet, may have been killed due to smoke inhalation, and could have suffered severe burns. He would have been wearing a mask on his face, a three-pronged claw over his left hand." She figured that sort of thing would stick out in anybody's mind.

But the men seemed perplexed as they mentally reviewed the bodies they had gone through nearly two months ago. "Doesn't ring a bell," the first said. The other two agreed shortly after.

"Then I need to speak with whoever inspected the intelligence sector of the compound," she said.

"Might take a second. That's not the sort of thing we remember off the top of our heads," the one with the legal pad said. The other two left, assuming they were no longer needed. Chun-Li followed the first man towards the computers, and he began to look through the records to find who had been assigned to which areas of the building. He repeated the names silently as he read them, then turned back to her. "One second, stay here." She nodded in response, and waited patiently for him to return.

She looked out over the gutted building, trying to reconstruct it mentally. There was nothing now save for the metallic skeleton to give any indication that the building had ever existed. It seemed like she was just here a few days ago, desperately pounding on the heavy metal door, trying to escape what she thought was imminent death. She was lucky that it hadn't been, and was grateful for Guile's intervention. "Agent Xiang?" She whipped around at the mention of her name, and nodded to the man.

"You inspected the intelligence sector?" she asked.

"Yes. What little was left of it."

"I'm looking for the body of a man who I have reason to believe died in the hallway outside of one of the offices."

"You spoke to-"

"The men who handled the bodies, yes," she replied with a nod. "But the body was never found by your people. He may have been misplaced, taken by someone."

"Not to question your judgement Agent Xiang, but why would someone remove a dead body from an exploding building?" the man asked.

"He was one of Shadaloo's top officials," she replied, slightly miffed by the man's attitude. "If he isn't dead, he needs to be found."

"I'm afraid there isn't much I can do for you, really," he said. "If we'd had more notice, before they started dismantling the building, we could've checked the area for evidence of his death or removal from the building, but in all honesty, ma'am, it's a little late for all of this." He spread his hands to show the helplessness of the situation.

She sighed. It wasn't what she wanted to hear at the moment. "No security feeds survive?" she asked.

"Very little computer data survived the explosions, including security records. S.I.N. wanted this place wiped out when that self-destruct was triggered," he replied. "And they did a damn good job of that."

"Thank you for your time," she said politely, leaving the man to go back to his work. The situation was beyond frustrating for her. There was no way Vega had survived all of this, she just needed to find a way to prove it.

...  
Maya made very sure to keep her back turned to the familiar Interpol agent who was poking around the camp while simultaneously trying to figure out why the woman was here to begin with. She knew a lot about Agent Xiang. She knew that the young woman pursued all Shadaloo related cases with an almost unhealthy obsession. She knew that the young woman's father had been killed by the organisation, and that that was what drove her to follow such cases. She also knew first-hand that the girl was a skilled fighter, and was not to be underestimated. There were a lot of advantages to being a CIA agent, and the intelligence on others was one of them.

One of the three men who the Chinese girl had initially spoken with walked past Maya, and the red-head called out to him. "Hey, what'd the Interpol agent want?" she asked, trying to sound like a curious newcomer-sort of nonchalant and simply trying to make conversation. After all, she was the newbie here. One member of the team was pulled out of the project due to familial problems back home, and she had been sent in as a replacement So the story went officially, anyway.

The man shrugged. "Something about a missing body. Some guy with claws and a mask, I don't know. I hate working on these wack-job cases like this," the man said with a sigh. "Always brings the crazies out of the woodwork."

She laughed, and replied, "Tell me about it." Mask and claws. She knew who that was. Vega La Cerda had been a higher ranking member of Shadaloo. If Victor Sagat was the right hand of Bison, Vega La Cerda had been the left, dealing death to the enemies of the organisation in a most gruesome manner. She'd seen some of his handiwork through crime scene photos, and it took a strong stomach to do so. The man was seriously disturbed, and she'd been grateful she'd never had to deal with him personally. And now, Agent Xiang was looking for him, apparently assuming he'd died.

But Maya wasn't terribly interested in any of that. She was here to get rid of the files on Seth and the cyborgs that the forensics team had created in testing the machines. She'd also have to destroy the bodies, as well as the samples sent to the labs for testing. After that, it was simply a matter of finding a way to gain access to the data Agent Xiang had recovered, and removing any trace of the cyborg project from it, permanently erasing the beings from existence. She'd like to believe that this would all be easy, but was beginning to find that few things having to do with Shadaloo were.  
...

"Snowing."

"Yes, snow."

"_In July?"  
_  
"Yes, in July." Ryu sighed, feeling very much like a parrot at this point. "The whole country is in a panic. The rice and potato crops might die this year. It's the most unusual thing."

"I'm sure it'll blow over, right?" Ken asked, trying to be reassuring. "Maybe it's just a coldsnap." He had to admit, it was a hell of a coldsnap, if that was the case. He'd never heard of snow in July, in the northern hemisphere, at least. Maybe in the higher elevations, but not where Ryu was living.

"The forecast is pretty grim," Ryu responded. "It's not supposed to let up any time soon. They're thinking of declaring a state of emergency."

"Maybe now's a good time to come over for a visit?" Ken suggested.

"I don't know," Ryu said. "That won't really help anything."

"There isn't a whole lot you can do about the weather, Ryu."

He grinned a little at that. "I know." The two wrapped up the conversation, and exchanged good byes before hanging up. Ryu sighed, looking out the window. He could feel the cold from outside radiating through the glass. "This is so bizarre," he whispered to himself. It wasn't snowing any more, for the moment. The sky was still overcast, though, and it could come back down any time. Still, he pulled on warmer clothes, and headed outside, into the woods. He lost track of time as he wandered farther into the rocky hillside, lost in his thoughts.

He decided now was as good a time as ever to meditate. The rhythm of the world was a mess, he thought. The cold drove the birds southward. The wind wasn't blowing. The water would freeze, soon. It didn't make sense, and he wished he knew what had gone wrong. He climbed atop a pile of rocks, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. The silence was unnerving. He sighed, and looked up into the trees, and it again began to snow. Straightening himself, he thought he could wait it out, that perhaps it was simply a flurry. But the wind kicked up, and began to howl through the dying leaves of the trees. He shivered as it drove the tiny crystalline flecks into his face, stinging slightly.

He jumped down from the rock, and began to head back home. He couldn't remember how far of a walk it was, and the snow was falling harder. It soon became difficult to press on as the wind and snow bit at his eyes and face. He couldn't feel his nose anymore, or the tips of his fingers. Cupping his hands over his face, he exhaled warm breath, slightly alleviating the problem. He looked around, studying his surroundings before noticing the mouth of cave. Satisfied, he jogged over to it, supposing he could wait the little blizzard out. He felt a little warmer once he made it out of the wind.

But now he was stranded inside a little cave, in the cold, and he had nothing to do but wait for the snow to stop. Turning around, he studied the inside, hoping nothing else had decided that this was just a good a spot as any to try to stay warm. The way in sloped downward, beneath the ground, where it would be slightly warmer. He glanced back out into the white landscape, and headed further inside the cave. He didn't smell any evidence of animals-no excrement or fur, no prey, no old kills. Still, he proceeded cautiously into the recesses of the area, keeping one hand to the cold stone wall as he walked. Finally, he could go no further as a pile of rocks blocked the way. He could see above the pile that the path went deeper still, and he wondered how far it would go. Finding a good foot and hand hold on the rocks, he pulled himself up, trying to look through the small space between the rocks and the roof of the cavern.

The rock's began to shake, and the surface suddenly changed. He gasped, feeling the rough, porous texture change into something pebbly and soft. It shook some more, and he jumped from it, stumbling slightly in his panic. He whipped around, staring in awe as the pile of rocks became something more organic. Two golden-brown orbs reflected back what little light there was, rolling round to find Ryu. A large, horned head with wide-set eyes tapered into a narrow snout, mounted on a long, thick neck. It turned slowly. The enormous eyes of the creature blinked rapidly, as if perplexed by the man before it. The body was thick, with pebbly, sandy brown skin, and mossy green cartilaginous growths on its back. Four sturdy, thick legs planted it to the ground, and it lifted one warily. The forelegs ended in dextrous claws, the hind quarters more similar to that of an elephant's-flat-footed with stubby little hoof-like toe nails. It was little taller than a horse at the shoulders, the long neck giving it roughly a foot more in height. A long tail drifted back and forth slowly.

"What..." Ryu whispered, eyes wide as he studied the amazing creature. He wasn't afraid of the thing-it, in all honesty, seemed a little dopey, like a dog. The creature stepped back, and Ryu shook his head, not wanting to frighten it. He looked at the thing, which seemed to be questioning him with its big eyes. "Hi?" Ryu offered, unsure of how to react in such a situation. He'd never seen anything like this before. It was vaguely reminiscent of a dinosaur, but was that even possible? It did look stranger than any dinosaur he'd ever hear of, though. The big eyes continued to stare dopily, and a pink tongue lolled out of the mouth. The comparison to the dog had been a rather apt one on Ryu's part. He reached a hand forward slowly, to show he did not intend to be a threat. The snout was warm, with a rough texture. It snorted after a second, and Ryu withdrew his hand. "What are you?" he wondered aloud.

The thing yawned widely in response, displaying a set of impressive sharp teeth. It was definitely carnivorous in nature, which made Ryu a little nervous. He wondered if it would attack him, but then shook the notion from his head. If if was going to eat him, it would've done it by now. It'd let him touch it, after all, so it couldn't be too aggressive, or hungry, at least. Still, he wouldn't risk any sudden movements, and he definitely wouldn't let it out of his sight when he left the cave.

Suddenly, Ryu became overwhelmed with the thought of cows, sheep, deer, goats, and chickens. Big, juicy, meaty animals, delicious, and, heavens, how long had it been since he'd sunk his teeth into one?

Ryu shook his head, brows drawing together in confusion at the bizarre and sudden thoughts. He wasn't at all hungry seconds before-his thoughts were too consumed by the strange animal before him to think of something like food. But now it was all he could think about. There was a loud rumbling in the cavern, and Ryu thought for sure it'd come from himself. It hadn't, though. He would have felt his stomach growling if it were that loud, he thought, and he looked over to the animal. Its big eyes seemed to be begging him for something, and again, the stomach rumbled and thoughts of delicious animals filled his head. In his mind, a very vivid picture formed of an old-very old, Ryu realised-Japanese village with huts where men were leading goats on ropes, probably bartering something. He became confused again, but then the picture changed to cows grazing in a field, again near a series of huts. The enormous animal's stomach rumbled again, and Ryu began to realise a startling and unbelievable truth-he was seeing its thoughts.

The creature wanted to be fed.


	5. Dragons and Androids

"You're...!" Ryu gasped, stepping back suddenly. The motion made the animal draw its head back, brown eyes flying wide in surprise. "I mean-you're hungry?" It stared back at him stupidly, uncomprehending. And why would it? It was an animal. Ryu sighed, and the pervasive thoughts of farm animals filled his head, becoming obnoxious. "I can't just go pick up a cow, you know," Ryu said, slightly agitated. The animal sat on its haunches heavily. He wasn't sure how to convey his meaning to the animal. "Don't you know how to hunt or something?"

More thoughts of hunger and farm animals.

Ryu sighed. The thing was completely helpless. It was like a huge baby. The thought struck him then, that this animal could just be a child. And if that were the case, the parent must've been enormous. What if it came back to find him tampering in its home? Regardless, the creature was extraordinary, and Ryu would feel wrong to leave it without ever coming back to it. He looked back towards the mouth of the cavern, where the snow fell softly now. "I'll do what I can for you, okay?"

A goat grazed on a hill. It was a question-Ryu could feel that much. So he nodded, and thought of the thing eating a goat with delight. It drew back its head, eyes blinking rapidly now, thick tail thumping. This startled Ryu, and he wondered if it had seen his own thoughts in the same way he kept receiving its. He experimented, thinking of the animal stalking the goat on its own, sort of like a lion or tiger. It didn't seem to understand. It struggled-he could feel it in his head-and sent back a thought of Ryu leading the goat to the animal on a rope. "You shouldn't rely on others to provide for you," Ryu said sternly. An elabourate vision played out in his head, of the animal clambering into the cave and going to sleep. It woke back up again, going out into the open, finding a field of animals, and being quite unsure of what to do next. "So you've forgotten, is what you mean?" Ryu surmised. He couldn't think of a way to send that statement to the animal in thoughts, but presumed as much. So instead, he thought back the image from before-himself leading an animal to the creature. Delight washed over him, emanating from the animal. Its stomach growled again.

"You've forgotten a lot, haven't you?" Ryu asked, though he knew it wouldn't understand him. "Do you have a name?" The creature stared back, tongue lolling. Unsure if it would work, Ryu sent the creature a mental image of himself, and thought 'Ryu'. He thought of little arrows indicating himself as his name floated above his head in big red letters. This seemed to excite the creature, and his tail thumped. It sent back a picture of itself with the image of Ryu. This confused the young man. "Your name...is also Ryu?"

A thought of a traditional Japanese dragon raced through his mind, wriggling like a snake through a sky. "Dragon!" Ryu cried, realising suddenly what it was the creature was saying. "You're saying that you are a dragon!" He sent this inquiry back in thoughts, and the creature's tail thumped heavily against the ground. He looked over the creature again, and frowned. "I always thought dragons were supposed to be more..um, sleek?" Indeed, the creature before him possessed a heavy, sturdy frame, not at all resembling the more serpentine form he was used to seeing. This looked more like a western-style dragon, but without wings. But who was he to argue with something like this? The situation was so bizarre already, what was to keep a western dragon from having stowed away in the caves of Japan?

Thoughts of farm animals filled his head again, and Ryu was reminded of the creature's plight. He reassured the creature he would return, and headed for the mouth of the cave, wondering where on earth he was going to get a live farm animal to bring back to this thing.  
...

Chun-Li sighed and closed her eyes as she took the seat across from the American man. "I don't know where to go next," she admitted. It was hard to say to him, to begin to admit that perhaps she had been hasty in her decision to pursue such a hopeless and impossible case.

"It's okay," Guile said, reassuring her and taking another sip of coffee. "Like you said-he'll show himself eventually, if he is alive. And that's when you make your move."

She put her head in her hands and began to massage her temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "I just can't stand all this waiting. I feel so useless, working on these other menial cases they throw at me."

"Useless? Did you forget already all of that valuable data _you _retrieved on S.I.N., and by extension, Shadaloo?" Guile replied. "And you're one of the most-if not _the _most-competent Interpol agents in the entire organisation. Don't get down on yourself because of this." She smiled slightly, and thanked him for that. Guile was a good friend, and she considered herself lucky to have him. He leaned forward a little, elbows resting on the table. "Look, I mean...just don't let this consume you. Like I did. Bison's gone. Seth's gone. Whatever Shadaloo remnants there are have either gone into hiding, or have been taken into custody. It's over."

She nodded, and said, "It's difficult to think of it that way, but I guess you're right. It's time to have a life now, huh?" She laughed a little, and he grinned.

"Yeah. It's time to go back home."  
...

Maya shined the black light over the buttons, entering the numbers which had been punched in as evidenced by the glowing fingerprints into her handheld. Four numbers. It wouldn't be that long, she thought, unscrewing the facing to the lock, revealing a small tangle of wires behind. She plugged her handheld into it, letting the program run which would send every possible combination of the four numbers to the lock until one finally opened it. She watched the door intently, waiting for it to open, glancing behind her occasionally to keep an eye out for any late night visitors. She very much doubted that anyone would show up though.

With a small clinking noise, she heard the door come unlocked, and pushed it open slightly, propping it open with her foot as she unplugged her handheld and replaced the lock facing. Strapping the device back to her belt, she slipped into the still room quietly. "All right," she whispered to herself, scanning the evidence room for the mechanical bodies. Twenty six stretchers had been brought into the room, two rows of thirteen lining the walls. Each was covered by a sheet, which she found to be a little amusing. They were machines, and yet due to their appearance, the ones who'd brought them here felt compelled to treat them with the respect normally reserved for dead humans.

She approached the first stretcher, and began to push it out into the hall. She'd disabled security cameras first in order to make this possible. A van was parked right outside of the building. She didn't like this method, but it was the only way she could think of to destroy the machines. Initially, she'd intended to burn the room, but considering these things had survived a fire and several explosions, that wouldn't do the trick. Instead, she would have to find another place to destroy them. She thought, perhaps, a trash compactor of some sort would work. They'd be mangled beyond recognition, and no one would have any idea what they were to begin with, eliminating any sort of interest in the machines. It'd be virtually impossible to recreate them, even if you knew what you were looking for. This method, however, was more risky, as it involved taking the time to remove each of the machines one by one. She'd watched the facility for a week now, and found that no one really visited at night. It was simply a matter of not leaving any evidence which would implicate her as the one who broke in-that meant disabling cameras, leaving no fingerprints, and letting no one see her. And she felt she was good at that.

It was several long, painful, silent minutes before she finished loading the first half of the machines. Even though she knew it was highly unlikely, she could not help but feel anxious over the fact that anyone could, potentially, enter the building at any time. There would be no real reason to, she knew, but the chance was still there, and this bothered her. She tried to focus on the task at hand instead of her own paranoia. Even if someone did come in, she could incapacitate them quickly, and finish her job.

She was nearly done, wheeling the final machine down the hall when she heard someone giggle behind her. She stopped suddenly, spinning around and raising her arms to protect herself. She didn't see anyone in the dark hall first, but something small and purple gleamed for a second as something moved. The sound of cloth rustling caught her ear, and she focused on it. "You're leaving that one for me, right?" The voice belonged to a young girl, with an Asian accent of some sort-she wasn't particularly well-versed enough in Asian linguistics and accents to be able to pinpoint just which region it was from.

"Isn't it past your bedtime, sweetheart?" Maya responded, wondering how someone so young had broken into the forensics building without her noticing.

"I'll ask nicely one more time, 'Crimson Viper'," the girl said, and a small point of purple began to glow at about eye level. The glow was just enough to softly illuminate the features of an Asian girl of about fourteen or fifteen, and Maya could see that the glow was caused by an artificial eye. "You _are _leaving that one for me?"

"I think this toy is a little too much for you to handle, kiddo," Maya answered.

"Fine, have it your way!" the girl spat, and the glow became brighter. The girl rushed Maya, and she flipped back just in time to avoid a kick which toppled the cot. The machine clattered to the ground loudly.

"Interesting," Maya said. "But you'll need to do a little better than that." Maya charged her gloves, balled her hands up into fists, and lunged forward, electricity crackling at her knuckled as she connected a punch with the girl. She felt a little guilty, hitting a kid, but the girl had attacked her first. The amount of electricity would be just enough to stun her, giving Maya enough time to escape with the machine in tow. She spun around, grunting with effort as she lifted the heavy machine back onto the cot. She was ready to make a run for it when she felt a sharp pain in her back and she stumbled forward from the force of the attack.

"It's mine! Give it back!" the girl cried.

"You need an attitude adjustment," Maya hissed, turning around. "I'm going to destroy these things, so just give it up!"

"I won't let you destroy them! With Seth finally dead, and Bison all hung up with that witch, they're mine now!" the girl exclaimed, jumping into the air and dropping back down heavily to where Maya had just been standing.

"Bison's alive?" Maya cried as she rolled out of the way of the girl's attack. She couldn't possibly be hearing things correctly. Shadaloo and S.I.N. were finished, and there's no possible way Bison could still be alive. And how would this little girl know that anyway?

"Regretfully so, but I'll kill him next time we meet," the girl said with a devious smile as she searched the darkness for Maya. "And I'll kill you right now!"

Maya charged her fist once again, at a higher setting now, and just as the girl leaped forward, Maya attacked, meeting her head on. The kick connected with her stomach, but not before she slammed the fist into the girl's chest. She stumbled back into the wall, and saw the girl drop like a stone. "Sweet dreams, kid," she muttered, racing back to the machine, and racing down the hall to get as far from this place as possible.


	6. Not a Dog

It'd been a week since Ryu had met the strange creature. And every day for that week, he'd taken the time to seek it out, to 'talk' with it, and to try to learn more about it. He also fed it, which is perhaps what the creature liked most about Ryu. He couldn't bring himself to buy a live animal with the intention of delivering it to his new friend, and instead opted to purchase large amounts of raw meat, which the animal didn't seem to mind. But it was beginning to cut into Ryu's budget, and he couldn't keep doing it forever.

In that week, he'd learned a lot about the animal. It was old, very old. So old, that the last time it remembered being awake, men lived in huts and had just mastered the art of agriculture and herding. Ryu didn't know what to make of something like that. Could a single animal live that long? It seemed impossible, but he was dealing with an apparently telepathic dragon. He was beyond the realms of 'possibilities' and 'logic' now. The dragon gave its name as 'Earth', which Ryu found to be particularly interesting. Giving its colouration and looks, it did have a decidedly earthen appearance to it. He wondered of its parentage, but it didn't seem to understand this question. Perhaps, Ryu thought, it had forgotten them. If it really was so old, it was reasonable. It'd forgotten so much else, it seemed. Although, it seemed to have spent a huge portion of its life sleeping.

Ryu thought hard on all of the strange happenings going on lately. Other than the discovery of the alleged thousands-years old dragon, there was still the issue of the unseasonal snow. It wasn't simply just an occasional powdering in a few days, but harsh blizzards striking suddenly, lasting hours at a time. Many crops had already been lost, and the country was beginning to fear for how it would feed its people. It wasn't just Japan experiencing the problems, either, but much of the northern hemisphere, which should have been in the height of summer, was having bouts of extreme and unusual cold. It started later in some places and earlier in others, but it proved to be a huge problem everywhere. The price of food would sky rocket, people would go hungry, economies would suffer. Things would be messy for awhile if the weather didn't return to normal.

"Ryu!"

The young man looked up upon hearing his name, and groaned inwardly as he saw Sakura approaching from the street on her bicycle. It wasn't that he disliked the girl-quite the opposite. She was like a younger sister to him, and he cared for her very much. But in the same manner, she could also be just as annoying as a sibling at times, showing up when he least needed to see her. Such as this instant, in which he was carrying bags full of raw meat out into the woods. She was incredibly curious, and nothing ever got past her. It was a good trait to have, really. "Hi, Sakura," Ryu replied, shifting uneasily.

Her eyes locked on the bags immediately, and she raised an eyebrow, asking, "What are those for?"

"Just stocking up," he replied.

"But..your house is _that _way," she answered, pointing in the opposite direction. "What's in there?"

Ryu sighed, knowing there was no way to get around it. If he told her what was in it, it'd just invite more questions. But if he didn't tell her, then she'd simply follow him anyway to find out. And he had no idea how the dragon would react to that if she suddenly burst into its cave. It was better to introduce her in a calm manner, with both parties knowing what was going on."It's meat, Sakura. I'm feeding an animal."

"You got a pet?" Sakura cried with delight. "Awesome! What is it? A dog? You can buy dog food, you know..."

"It's not a dog," Ryu replied patiently, continuing his walk. She abandoned her bike, jogging to catch up with him.

"Hmm well, that's a lot of food, and it's all meat, so it has to be carnivorous..." She thought hard on what he could possibly be feeding that much meat to which was also domesticated, but was only drawing blanks. "I give up."

"Just keep walking," Ryu sighed. He wondered how the dragon would take this. And how Sakura would take it. "Just don't tell _anyone."_

"My lips are sealed!" she responded, pantomiming a zipping motion across her lips. He nodded in response, spotting the cave up ahead.

"He's up here." He nodded in the direction of the animal's home. "Let me go first. He's never met anyone but me, and I don't know how he'll respond."

Ryu ducked into the cave, and the dragon stirred, big eyes finding the young man immediately. "I brought some more food," he said, dumping the bags at the dragon's feet. He wasn't sure why he still spoke to it when he knew it didn't understand his words. He took the time to unwrap all of the food at his home so as to avoid litter and going through the trouble of it in the cold cave. Once more, Ryu felt the dragon's delight as its eyes lit up at the sight of the food. The tail wagged back and forth, and it dipped its head to eat. "Also...I brought somebody with me. She wanted to see you." Ryu put the words into more easily understood thoughts for the dragon, and it stared at him, meat dangling out of its mouth. He was asking who it was, and Ryu reassured him it was a friendly person. "Sakura! You can come in!" Ryu called.

"Thanks for the invitation, Ryu Hoshi." Ryu spun around, startled at the male voice which answered. Flashlights lit the room with bright, narrow beams. The man who'd spoken had Sakura's wrists in one hand, a gun with a light mounted on it in the other, pressed to the back of the young girl's head. They all wore black clothing, resembling American S.W.A.T. teams with heavy vests, combat boots, and helmets. Sakura looked terrified. She was a brave girl, and a talented fighter, especially for her age, but anyone in her situation would be frightened.

"I'm sorry, Ryu, I tried-!" she began, but he stopped her.

"Don't be sorry, Sakura, it's okay. Just stay calm. Let's all stay calm," Ryu said, hands spread. He didn't know who these men were, or what they wanted, but he didn't want her or the dragon getting hurt, although, they hadn't seemed to notice it yet.

"So here's the deal, kid," the man holding Sakura said. "You're going to come with us. Quietly, and nobody follows you. You're going to do everything we tell you, and when we're done with you, you're free to go, as long as you keep quiet about all of it. Sounds fair, right? Nice compromise?"

Ryu nodded slowly. "Yeah, just fine, but let her go. Don't hurt her."

"You're in no position to be making demands," the man replied.

"Look out!"

A body flew past them, one of the men in black, crashing into the others. The man in charge had sidestepped, dragging Sakura with him. He glanced down at his companion, unconscious on the floor. "What the hell happened?"

A terrifying roar reverberated through the cavern, and the dragon stumbled into view, looking panicky at the strange group of men in his cave with their smelly weapons. The men thought it was angry, but Ryu could feel its fear. It was asking in his head over and over-what are these?

"Oh my God," the man in charge cried, staring up in awe. Sakura felt his grip slacken, and took the opportunity to slip down, back between his legs, and caused him to fall forward. She kicked hard at his face, and he stumbled. Ryu attacked next, wrenching the gun from his hands. Most of the men had already fled. The few that remained levelled their guns at Ryu, keeping wary eyes on the dragon all the while.

"What do we do, sir? What is that thing?"

"Just get out now, and I'll tell him to spare your lives!" Ryu shouted, suddenly getting an idea.

"He's bluffing, it's a wild animal, it won't listen to him," the first man called out.

"Oh yeah?" Ryu challenged. "Kill them!" Ryu pointed at the men dramatically, but in his mind, he asked the dragon to come closer, and roar at them, promising him that this would make them go away. It hesitated at first, but Ryu emphasised the urgency of the situation, and it took a tentative step forward, lowering its head and roaring into the faces of the men. They stepped back, exchanging wary glances, but the man who seemed to be their leader stood his ground. He raised his arm, having recovered a gun at some point amid the chaos, and pointed it directly at the dragon's head. He cocked the hammer and then-

"No!" Sakura cried, lunging at the man. The gun was fired upward, bullet harmlessly embedding itself into the rock overhead.

The man growled, and shoved Sakura back roughly. She fell on her back. He took aim again, this time at Sakura. "Sakura!" Ryu shouted, jumping towards her. He heard the gun fire, and wished desperately that he had some way to stop the bullet, a vest, armour, anything at all. Then he felt it hit him.  
...

"Someone is aware of our operations," she said to her superior as a team of men unloaded the android bodies into the building.

The man cursed and put a hand to his head, beginning to pace. "How could you let this happen?" he hissed, spinning around to face her. She wasn't intimidated, as he'd probably been hoping she would.

"_I _performed flawlessly," she replied, putting a hand on her hip. "Besides, the important things have been taken care of. All of the data on how to build the things has been destroyed, and all of the code used to program them is gone. Once we get rid of those," she nodded to the machines being wheeled inside, "that'll be it."

"Then how could someone possibly know about them?"

Maya tilted her head in thought. It hadn't been a forensic scientist, that much was certain. It was a young girl who seemed to know something of Shadaloo, and Maya regretted not taking the girl with her in order to press her for information on the organisation. She feared, without some way to keep the girl sedated until she could be properly restrained, the girl would just get away, and possibly injure her beforehand. Regardless, the girl knew about the machines, and seemed to know what they were capable of, if she wanted one so badly she'd attack an armed C.I.A. agent over it. No one else but S.I.N. refugees would know about the machines, and the majority of them had been arrested after being run down by Interpol agents on the scene at the collapsing headquarters. So there was no one else who knew of them except...

"Guile. Major Guile," Maya said suddenly. "He knows what they're capable of. Such knowledge poses as a motivation to try to acquire one." But then, that didn't make much sense, she thought. "But why would he send a young girl to get them? No, she couldn't have possibly been involved with the Air Force. She has some kind of relation to Shadaloo, I just don't know what it is just yet."

"Then your next assignment is to find that out for me. She wants one of these machines-use it as bait to lure her out," her superior officer said. "Then when you've got her, make her talk. And keep an eye on the Guile, too, until you can be absolutely certain that he doesn't have any links to the girl. Could be going rogue, could have a deal with her under the table. Think, these things would fetch a pretty penny with arms dealers, and a guy like him would know it, too."

Maya nodded. "Got it."  
...

"Thanks for driving me out here," Chun-Li said, nodding her head to her two blond companions.

Ken grinned and waved his hand. "No problem. It's the least I could do for a friend." Guile nodded in agreement.

"Call us if you're ever back in the area," Guile said.

"Of course," she replied. "Maybe I'll see you guys for Christmas. You'll have to tell me what little Amy's into by then, so I can bring her something good." She smiled at Guile and he laughed.

"That's half a year away, so she'll have gone through two or three different fads at that point, but sure, I'll let you know," he responded with a grin.

"Hey, at the rate we're going with this weather, you could probably get her a bathing suit," Ken remarked, getting a laugh out of the girl.

"I'll miss you guys," Chun-Li said finally, waving to both of them. Good-bys were exchanged, and the friends parted ways. She was happy to go back home, but already began to miss her new-found friends. She knew once she was back in China, she'd begin to feel a little better. She had plenty to do. Her apartment had been vacant for awhile now, and she was sure it could use a good cleaning. Maybe she'd redecorate a little. She tried to busy herself with these thoughts, doing anything she could to avoid thinking of the emptiness she was beginning to feel after leaving her friends. She missed Ryu, too, and thought that perhaps she'd call him when she got home. He lived nearer than Guile and Ken, which made meeting up with him a lot easier. It made her feel a little better, knowing that Ryu was so close to home.

She sighed. Loneliness was beginning to eat at her, and on top of that, she still felt a sort of awful anxiety over Shadaloo and being unable to locate Vega's body. She didn't like the idea of the man still being alive and unaccounted for. She wanted-no, needed-to find him, even if he was a rotten corpse left to the scavengers. Just any sort of confirmation that he was dead. But she didn't have the slightest clue as to where to look. Resting her head against her hand, she tried not to think about it, but found it to be nearly impossible.


	7. One Way or the Other

He felt the impact of the bullet, and he expected it to hurt a lot more than it did. In fact, he barely felt anything at all, which made him wonder if maybe he was in shock from the wound. But he still felt very lucid. He heard Sakura screaming, felt the rush of fear from the dragon, the men shouting out-about what, he wasn't sure. Something about the rocks. Was the cave collapsing? Ryu rolled his eyes skyward, but it was too dark to tell, really. He reached down to his stomach to survey the damage, and was startled at how rigid and hard it felt.

"Ryu, what's happened to you?" Sakura cried.

The man in question was confused by the comment, and turned his head downward to get a look at himself. He wasn't bleeding. That was a relief, but it was lost to a sense of panic when he realised that his entire body was made of stone. He screamed in surprise, never having come across something so strange in his life. Even the dragon was easier to adjust to than this. He felt his face, his hair, it was all rock hard. "What am I? What's going on?" he cried, standing to his feet. He expected to feel so much heavier, but he still felt as light as before. Another bullet was fired, and Ryu flinched when it smacked into his shoulder. It didn't hurt. It was just annoying. He expected it to be painful, braced for it, but in the end, it just served as a needless stressor. They couldn't shoot a person made of rocks and expect it to harm him.

"What do we do?" one of the few remaining men asked the superior, who seemed just as lost as they did.

"How am I supposed to know? She never mentioned any of this!" The man gestured to the dragon and Ryu with his free hand, gun still held at chest level. Ryu stood protectively in front of Sakura, knowing now that the bullets weren't a problem for him.

"Then I say we get out of here!" on of the others cried. "I never intended to die for Bison, I sure as hell aren't going out for some little girl!"

Ryu narrowed his eyes, then grabbed the man. He attempted to smash the butt of the gun down onto Ryu's head, but the stoney head did more damage to the fist. "Bison? What do you know about Bison? Who are you working for now?" Ryu demanded.

"Don't tell him anything!" the leading man hissed.

"I'll crush his throat!" Ryu threatened. An empty one, but violent punishment was the only thing that motivated these sort of people. The man kicked and cried out in response as Ryu lifted him off the ground by his collar.

"And I'll shoot him in the head if he talks," the leader responded nonchalantly.

"You coward!" Sakura spat. "You'd sacrifice another's life just to keep your secrets! We'll find out one way or the other, you know!"

"Coward? Whose hiding behind the rock guy, princess?" the man spat.

Ryu threw the man he was holding back, grabbing for the one in charge. "Okay, if _they _can't talk, then you will!"

The man kicked at first, but resigned to staring back contemptuously at Ryu. "All right, kid. What is it?" he sneered.

"Who do you work for?" Ryu asked.

"Some little Korean chick. What's her name, Jerky, Jerri, something like that, I don't know. All I know, is she's got the cash, so I provide the services," he responded.

"You kill people for her?" the Japanese man pressed.

"Sometimes, if she needs it. But...she wanted you alive, for some reason or another. Wouldn't divulge the details to me," The man sighed, as if he was bored with this. "All I got was a name, a photo, and a location. And you're worth a lot to her. So, one way or the other..."

There was a sudden gunshot, much louder than any of the ones from before, and the dragon howled. Ryu felt an immense wave of fear from the timid creature, and it surged forward. Ryu tossed the man aside, grabbed Sakura, and launched himself on top of the running dragon. It barrelled through the narrow cavern, head low, panting and bleating as it did, leaving the men to chase after them. More gunshots were fired off after them, and Ryu glanced back over his shoulder. The men were chasing them, but weren't fast enough to catch up with the huge quadruped.

"Ryu!" Sakura cried out. She was frightened, arms wrapped around the neck of the dragon as it ran.

"It's okay, just stay low and hold on!" Ryu advised. The dragon bounded through the forest. A fresh dusting of snow powdered the ground, and dried twigs and leaves snapped loudly underfoot. Ryu tried to gather his thoughts in a way the dragon would understand. He asked where it was going, and attempted to calm it down, but all that came back was the image of the bright flash of the gun in the dark of the cave, the enormity of the noise, the confusion, the strange smells, it was all so overwhelming and-!

Ryu shook his head, trying to clear the creature's chaotic thoughts from his mind. The last thing he needed in a moment like this was to lose it. The dragon continued to run, and Ryu and Sakura held tight.  
...

The forensics lab which had been broken into filed a report with the police the next morning. Maya made sure to make it disappear by that afternoon. They hadn't mentioned anything specific-simply writing that some 'equipment' had been stolen from them, and that security feeds had been disabled as well. The men didn't really know what the androids were, and many of them had come into the place as dismembered scrap metal. Only three of them remained completely intact, a few others with simple blemishes or hardware malfunctions-which, Maya had learned quite quickly, made them completely useless. These malfunctioning units were destroyed immediately along with the dismembered pieces, melted down to nothing. She had her pick of the final three, and took the unit which gave its designation as number twenty-two.

She needed it to get the girl's attention-or at least, the attention of the organisation she was working for. But she didn't really know how to do that without also garnering the attention of the public. She couldn't exactly walk around with this thing through the streets, and she definitely couldn't go back to the forensics lab in hopes of the girl returning-the people who worked there would notice it immediately, and it would cause a media frenzy if word got out.

She'd simply have to trust the girl to find her, she supposed. She didn't have any way of finding her herself. However, this meant she couldn't leave the machine alone. Any time at which she needed to leave it, she was required to contact someone to come stay with it. They were always armed, as she had informed the agency of the girl's surprising fighting prowess. Indeed, the only reason Maya got out unharmed was due to her power suit, and pure luck which placed her in the prime position to attack. The girl probably wouldn't make the same mistake twice, now knowing the extent of Maya's capabilities.

So she anticipated a rough fight when the girl returned, but if she could get the android to fight her, then perhaps that would even the score a bit.  
...

The first thing she did upon reaching her apartments was call Ryu. Throughout the plane trip, staring down over the glistening ocean, she felt a growing need to see him again. It had been only a couple of months-since the destruction of S.I.N. And they'd never been _particularly _close. Not to the point of her feeling the need to call him on the phone about anything other than planning a trip to meet up, or, regretfully, something to do with Shadaloo and Bison. She'd become closer friends with Guile than any of them, as their goals were so in line with each other when it came to Shadaloo, as well as their motivations. They both wanted revenge for one they'd lost, and they both worked for similar organisations, so each had a better understanding of how the other worked, for the most part.

So she couldn't quite place why she felt such a strong urge to see Ryu, or speak with him. On top of that, she felt anxious, as though she were forgetting something. She indexed all of her belongings as she removed them from her bags, phone pressed against her ear by her shoulder. She sighed after it rung five times. Ryu had an annoying habit of not setting up an answering machine. He simply called back when he realised someone had called him, which could sometimes be awhile. She slid the phone back into her pocket, and returned to her belongings. When she finished unpacking everything and returning it to its place, she found that nothing was missing. She shook her head, as if to clear it of anxious thoughts. She wasn't forgetting anything, apparently, but everyone always felt that sort of feeling after coming home from a big trip, or leaving for one. She tried to write it off as being that, but it wasn't working very well.

"Ughhh fine then," she muttered to herself, digging a coat out of the back of her closet-she didn't think she'd need one in July but the chilly trip from the airport to her apartment made her realise otherwise. She'd go for a walk to clear her mind. She needed some quiet time, anyway. Since the fall of S.I.N., she'd been doing little else but working. She couldn't remember the last time she'd thought to take a minute to do something relaxing. No, her head had been filled with thoughts of bionic weapons, of data in a computer, of bringing down Bison, of finding and confirming the death of Vega... It was the first time in a while she didn't have any pressing matters to attend to. Maybe, she thought, that that was why she felt so anxious. As though she were expecting to need to do something to find out that there wasn't anything to do any more.

She wrapped her arms around herself as she exited the warm building into the cold air. She should've just gone to sleep. Why wasn't she tired after the day long plane ride? She pulled out her phone and tried calling Ryu again. There was still no answer.  
...

"They never found a body, you know." He waved his hand slightly, the other arm supporting his weight against the bar. Why he was speaking like this in a civil manner with her was beyond him. Divulging things he'd never told anyone before about the inner workings of his mind. Maybe it was because she was him, in a sense. It made it easier to just spill everything. Or maybe his tolerance for alcohol was lower than he previously thought. But a couple glasses of scotch weren't going to send him over.

"One might expect that in a fire," the violet haired woman replied placidly. "All the pieces used to identify a person end up destroyed."

He shook his head. "No. There weren't left overs. Not unidentified corpses. He simply...disappeared."

The former dictator of Shadaloo leaned both elbows against the finished wood surface of the bar with a melancholy grin on his face. He'd spent the past few months obsessing over the cards Rose had dealt lately, partly as a way to distract himself from his collapsed regime, partly because the things she'd been predicting were beginning to come true. He knew the stories. He knew a lot of stories, really. Mythology was interesting, and laid bare the soul of man-they projected their desires into their mythos, their hopes and their dreams of what life might be about, that it wasn't all just for nothing. One such story that few people knew of, let alone put any stock in, was a creation myth based around four ancient creatures. These creatures-dragons, as they were named by man-built the world, and gave life to man by way of four elements. Each dragon, naturally, was assigned an element, and four humans dedicated their very souls to the service of these creatures-then seen as gods-should it ever be asked of them. In return for their services, they were granted gifts-the ability to manipulate and become the element of the dragon which they had dedicated themselves to. And then of course, down the line, the story is forgotten, the dragons slumber and wait for the end of it all, and the four poor souls that enslaved themselves to fairy tales were forgotten, long dead.

But then, they weren't. Things went wrong, and the first one awoke long before his time. In doing so, the others would wake soon after, and this would also call back the souls of the four humans who were sworn to service. What had gone wrong, exactly, was still very much a mystery to Bison, as well as the location of the first dragon and its human counterpart. He thought, perhaps, that he could use the powers given to these humans for himself. Capturing them, channelling the incredible powers, assimilating it into his own Psycho Power some way or another-perhaps even using their enhanced DNA in order to create his next host body. But Rose had been adamant about this point-more than she'd ever been before, and it displeased him greatly. The world was at stake, of course. And what good were all of these powers if their was no world left to rule? He could wait. He could bide his time for this.

Which was why he now sat in the little bar in Italy with this wretched woman, drinking his whisky, and ruminating over the past few chaotic months. He smirked. "You never realise how much you miss a person until they've left you, you know."

"Is that so?" Rose replied, seeming just slightly amused as she sipped her wine occasionally.

"Oh yes," Bison replied with a nod. "Once Sagat departed from Shadaloo, I was angry with him at first. Too enraged to even bother with trying to get him back. But, he was smart-he had to be, to get my respect, to earn the rank he did. And he was skilled. And he was competent." He pressed a finger against the wood with each compliment he gave the Thai man, for emphasis. "And Vega couldn't handle the workload. God, the boy was a wreck, how could I have expected it of him? Assassinations were fine, yes. He could kill quickly and silently, anyone I asked, and it was done. But taking on Sagat's job, it called for much more important decision making. He had to _think _on his own, make _decisions._"

Bison paused for a minute, lost in the past, until Rose said, "And this was a problem for him?"

He laughed harshly. "A problem? Oh, God, it was a _disaster_. The boy wasn't dumb. He simply couldn't handle the pressure I put on him. Killing was easy because he was told who to kill, and when, and how. But this required too much from him. He can't-_couldn't_-think in the long-term, and he spent more time contemplating whether his actions would please me than _performing_ them. Everything was falling down around me. The dolls were malfunctioning, Killer Bee-"

"Cammy." She always insisted on treating the clone as a human now. Always corrected him every time he addressed the girl by her codename.

"-she was gone. Sagat was gone. And now all of its gone, and I have to start from scratch." Bison sighed, brows furrowed. He knocked back the rest of the scotch. He grimaced this time, and not just from the burn of the alcohol. "And Vega, he's dead now." He eyed Rose cautiously, one brow arched slightly as she listened. "I don't suppose you could do anything about that?"

"I can not retrieve him from where he's gone. I don't think I would if I could."

The inebriated general hung his head between his arms, resting it against the bar as he ran his fingers through his dark hair. "Such a shame. In spite of all of his damned annoying habits, I'd give nearly anything to have him back. Sagat, too. To start over again."

"Why do you bother with it, Bison?" Rose asked emphatically. "Even your own friend has turned from the path you've taken. Can't you understand-_this isn't any way to live! _So you get your power one day-_dio non voglia_-and then what? Live as many lives as you want, as powerfully as you want, but it is miserable to be alone."

Bison scowled. "You'll not talk me out of it, witch." He glanced out the nearest window, seeing snow beginning to fall again. It reminded him of the strange state of the world, and he asked, "You said the first woke. Have you read the cards since then?"

She sighed, and leaned back against the bar. "Of course I have. He's found his counterpart. His awakening will begin a chain reaction. The second will wake soon enough."

"And you still won't tell me who they are."

"Correct."

"Sometimes," he said, raising an eyebrow at her, "I wonder if you even know their identities yourself."

"But I suppose you'll still stay with me in hopes of finding them out anyway?" she asked with a sigh.

And he replied in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "I wouldn't _dream _of leaving."


	8. The Trees Are Gone

"So, they weren't just rumours, were they?"

Maya didn't jump. She didn't turn her head to the voice. She didn't want to give the owner the satisfaction. Instead, she input a command into the tablet in her hands which was connected to the android before her. In a matter of seconds, it processed the command, then executed it, saying in its eerily human voice, "Please, identify yourself immediately."

The man crossed his arms and smirked. "Major William Guile, United States Air Force."

"You think you have clearance to access this area of the building?" Maya said finally, turning around and planting one free hand on her hip.

"You suits need to be a little more thorough about cleaning up after yourselves," Guile said, ignoring her question. His knowledge of the seven foot tall machine behind the red head had apparently been clearance enough. He didn't need to explain himself to her. "Word's gotten around that those androids recovered from the forensics lab have gone missing. But I guess at least one still works." He nodded to it as he spoke.

"How did you hear about any of this?" Maya asked, now crossing her arms defensively. The report which had been filed with the police by the lab had been erased before anyone at the station had gotten a chance to read it.

Guile decided to humour her. "I checked out the lab myself, to see if the damned things had been eliminated yet. And when I got there they were gone. One of the women at the lab called me later to inform me of the person spotted on one of the security feeds, and well, who could forget a face like yours?"

"I'm flattered, major," she said sarcastically. While he spoke she tried to run over the scenario in her head, taking herself back to the night when she first entered the lab in order to remove the machines. She was certain she'd disabled all of the security feeds...How could any of the lab technicians have seen her?

"I was afraid that some idiot would get the idea in his head that these things were worth saving. That we should replicate them. That we should attempt to use them in our favour," Guile said, eyes narrowed. "I didn't think that idiot would be you."

"Well, you've been grossly misinformed," Maya replied, stepping forward. "We aren't replicating them, and as a matter of fact-" She stopped herself short. No, she wasn't going to play into his hands. She had no reason to tell him anything about her plans for the android. "As a matter of fact, I believe it'd be best if you were to leave, before I have you escorted out by security."

Guile sighed and shook his head. "These machines are dangerous, Viper. They can replicate any attack they've ever witnessed, but with even greater strength. They're a one-man army, so making more would be disastrous, especially if one of them becomes self-aware, like Seth. If you have any sense at all, you'll destroy this thing immediately." With that, the man turned around and left as quickly as he came.

"Sorry to disappoint, major," she said to herself, turning back to the android. "But he and I have some work to do first."  
...

The dragon barrelled through the woods, quickly finding its way to the paved road. It didn't stop, following the black street uphill. Ryu and Sakura bounced on its back, holding tightly to its neck as it ran. "Can't you make him stop?" Sakura cried out.

"He's pretty scared! He's never seen a gun before!" Ryu shouted back.

But then, suddenly, the dragon skidded to a halt, and panted heavily. Ryu looked up, wondering why it had stopped so suddenly, and why he was feeling subtle waves of confusion coming from the creature. It'd cresut ted the hill which overlooked the city below, and it stared with wide brown eyes, unblinking. Slowly, the confusion turned into sadness. It sent to Ryu a mental picture of the same landscape, but instead of office buildings, shops, homes, and apartments, there was nothing but trees. It was a question, Ryu realised-where did the trees go?

Ryu contemplated how to explain the concept of construction and civilisation to the dragon, and found it tough to do. He thought back pictures of men with axes coming to chop the trees down, carrying them away, and building with bricks in their place. The sadness from the dragon became overwhelming, to the point that Ryu himself began to feel it, to yearn for the forest that had been there once which he had never known. The dragon wailed miserably, snout pointed toward the grey sky.

"What is it?" Sakura asked. "What's wrong?"

"He misses the forest," Ryu replied sadly. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"It's back there, where those guys were."

"No," Ryu said with the shake of his head. "The trees we destroyed to build the city. He mourns for their deaths."

The dragon wailed again. It broke Ryu's heart to hear the sound. He felt more confusion and more sadness from the dragon. It simply couldn't understand why the trees had been killed, how the city was necessary for people. And Ryu couldn't really explain it to him. So, it continued to cry. But it stopped abruptly, blinking its large eyes again before uttering another cry. It thought to Ryu images of an empty beach under a cold grey sky. Ryu tried to formulate a way in which to ask the dragon what it wanted, but was finding it difficult to do so.

And suddenly, they were no longer at the top of the hill. In an instant, the three found themselves in the sand. The thunderous sound of waves and the occasional cry of a gull reached their ears. The sky was grey, and the air was still so cold. "Ryu, what happened?" Sakura wondered. "Where are we now?"

"I don't know," Ryu answered, looking around. The beach was empty. It was too cold to come out here.

_Why are you crying, brother?_

Ryu was startled at the sound. It was a decidedly feminine voice, but it definitely didn't belong to Sakura. It was older, more sultry, with an almost musical quality to it. And most important, he'd heard it in his head, not with his ears.

_The trees. The trees are gone._

A male's voice now. Younger, deep yet child-like in its naivety. Had it been the dragon? Could it speak?

"Ryu?" The man in question turned around, seeing a familiar woman jogging towards him across the shore. She looked a little surprised, and slightly relieved. Ryu would've responded immediately, but the voices demanded his attention.

_The trees are gone, _the feminine voice said. _And the seas are blackened...We've overslept._

_Time to wake up?_

_Yes, Earth. Time to wake up.  
_...  
Chun-Li wasn't exactly opposed to the cold. Christmas was just about her favourite holiday, after all. At first, it'd been rough adjusting to being alone, having been used to sharing the holiday with her father. But as she made friends, like Guile, Julia, Ken, Eliza and Ryu, she began to warm up to the season again, remembering everything she'd loved about Christmas-the closeness, the happiness that seemed to permeate everything. It was her firm belief, now, that no one should be alone on Christmas.

But it wasn't Christmas time. This made the cold a little more difficult to deal with for her. She should be enjoying a beach right now, or a park, a bike ride, maybe. But it was too cold for any of that. She reached once more for her phone, and tried Ryu's number again. There was still no response. She sighed, and slipped it back into her pocket.

There was a slight wind, tossing her bangs lightly, tickling her face. She was beginning to wonder why she'd come out here at all. She wanted to walk off her anxiousness, to get so tired she wouldn't be able to feel anything else. But she still felt as if she were missing something, anticipating something. She looked skyward, watching gulls wheel round in lazy circles against the grey sky. It was a dreary day, making her mood even worse. She wanted the summer back. With a sigh-which turned to vapour on the frigid air-she turned around, and headed back to the warmth of her apartment. She hadn't gone too far before deciding to head home, which was a relief. She hadn't worn gloves, and her fingers were beginning to go a little numb.

She entered the empty room silently, as if she might disturb something by closing the door too loudly. Her footsteps, while normally fairly light, even in her boots, sounded like an awful racket as she made her way back to her closet. She kept her coat on a hanger towards the front of the closet, and frowned a bit. Deciding that she was not terribly hungry, she skipped her next meal-was it lunch by now? Dinner? Time was difficult to keep track of.

A sudden noise from behind caught her ears. She became completely still, even stopped breathing, willing the sound to occur again. She tried to figure out where it came from, but it had been too brief, too quiet. She quickly decided it was one of three options: her mind playing tricks on her, something mundane like pipes or vents, or something more sinister, like an intruder. In that case, she wouldn't want them to know that she was aware of her presence, so she continued on to her kitchen for a drink. Now she was certain she heard someone, footsteps just a little too loud on the hardwood floor, trying to keep the same cadence as her own in an effort to mask themselves.

She quickly began to assemble a list of enemies. Who would want to attack her? She rolled her eyes as she opened the fridge slowly. The list was too long. Whoever in Shadaloo and S.I.N. hadn't been jailed would consider her an enemy. Or it could just be a random robber. If she was lucky. A common crook was a lot easier to deal with than someone trained in murder and-

The floorboards groaned under the weight of something suddenly, and the briefest squeal of rubber against the laminate gave her just enough time to duck low as the attacker lunged. He landed head first in the fridge, and she slammed it shut on him, causing him to cry out. But almost immediately, another man came from around the corner, dressed like some sort of special ops soldier. He held a gun at arms length, but she wasn't impressed. A quick, high kick relieved him of it, and she struck again, planting both feet firmly against his armoured chest. It was enough to make him stumble.

She didn't stick around. Being outnumbered wasn't a problem. But restraining two armed men-possibly more, who knew, was going to be a little difficult in her apartment. Plus, she didn't want to get the place dirty. She ran out of the room, screaming for help in the hallway as she went. Generally, attracting enough attention to the situation would cause attackers to leave, but she realised these men were not just there to rob her. Their manner of dress was too uniform. They had to be with some sort of organisation, or something...

She burst out into the cold, and spotted the car immediately. One man was standing at the passenger side door, another sat in the driver's seat. They saw her, but she didn't stick around. Times like these made her regret never buying a car. She relied too much on the public transportation system, and there was no way she'd be able to stick around and wait for a bus. The men shouted to each other, and the two that were tailing her jumped into the car with the other men. She continued running, trying her best to keep off of sidewalks and main roads, doing anything she could to hinder her pursuers. The cold air was harsh on her lungs and throat, causing every breath to become painful.

Whipping around a corner quickly almost caused her to skid on the damp pavement. She kept running. She didn't know where to go. The cold kept most people off the streets for the day, otherwise she would've simply kept to more public areas. That didn't seem like a viable option at the moment. She saw a patch of foliage ahead, and glanced behind her. The car was still following. She took a chance, and made her way into the dying plants. She tried to construct a mental map of the area, attempting to remember what was on the other side of the plants. She pushed branches and browning leaves aside, looking over her shoulder every chance she got. There wasn't a car barrelling through the woods, so she was unsure of where the men had gone.

And then suddenly, she felt the wind in her face again, and smelled salt on the air. The thunderous crash of the waves against the shore caught her ears and she realised she'd made her way to the beach. Taking a second to catch her breath, she scanned the empty beach, trying to figure out where to go next. She turned left, then right and...

She squinted. Had those shapes been there before? In her first survey of the area, she hadn't recalled seeing anyone on the beach. Who would be, in the bitter cold and freezing winds? But now there was some huge animal, and two people atop its back. She studied them, feeling some sort of familiarity in the white outfit the brown-haired man wore. She spotted the red head band whipping in the wind, and gasped. "Ryu!" she shouted, trying her hardest to be heard over the waves. He didn't respond. Maybe it hadn't been Ryu after all...

Barely, she heard the girl say, "Ryu, what happened? Where are we now?" And her heart jumped. Was it really him? Why was he here? She jogged towards the two. And then suddenly, a voice spoke, asking why someone was crying. She gasped, putting a hand to her ear. The voice hadn't come from an external source. Another voice responded, speaking of trees.

"Ryu!" Chun-Li shouted again, unsure of what was going on. She began to wonder if she was hallucinating, or going crazy. Everything going on was quite strange. The figure in white turned to look at her, and she knew immediately it was him. "Ryu! What are you doing here? What is that monster?"

"Chun-Li!"

_She's coming, Ryu. My sister is coming to us._

Chun-Li's brows shot up, surprised at hearing the voice refer to Ryu, and the man in question responded, looking towards the head of the monster. He asked, "Your sister? Who?"

"You hear it?" Chun-Li cried as she came to a stop beside them. She still kept a fair distance from the animal, unsure of what its disposition was or what it was capable of.

"Heard what?" Sakura asked, frowning. "You guys are beginning to weird me out, big time! Who are you talking to? How did we even get here, Ryu?" She tugged on the torn sleeve of the gi.

"Earth did it, somehow," Ryu responded. "He's speaking to me." He looked down at Chun-Li, then said, "To us, apparently. Do you hear them too?"

Chun-Li nodded in response, and asked again, "What is he, Ryu? What is he talking about?"

_There she is!_ The green creature's head drew back, big brown eyes flying open wide as it gazed out into the waves. All three people turned, following its line of sight and seeing nothing at first. But then, among the white-capped waves, they each began to spot it. The glimmering crests cutting through the blue-green of the ocean. Chun-Li's eyes grew wide. Much too large for a fish. Then, suddenly, a creature erupted forth from the seafoam, snout pointed skyward as it stood on the shoreline. The skin appeared rubbery like a porpoise, or a dolphin. Its belly and underside were all a beautiful shade of aqua-green, darkening to a blue colour at its back. A green crest, reminiscent of kelp or seaweed, ran along the entirety of its body from between the eyes to the tip of the long, fish-like tail. Its head was thin and pointed, with a long snout, and two brilliant green eyes watched them, clearly showing intelligence. It was the embodiment of elegance. Chun-Li felt drawn to the creature immediately, but was still too unsure as to what it was to approach it.

_Water._

_"_That's your sister?" Ryu asked the creature. It nodded in response.

_Something's wrong,_ the new creature said.

"What is it?" Ryu responded. He seemed to be taking this all in stride. Chun-Li was still too overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of the creature to think much about the whys and whats just yet.

_I'm not certain, _she responded.

_The trees are gone, _Earth repeated.

"How do we figure out what to do?" Ryu said.

"To do what?" Sakura asked, confused. She, apparently, couldn't hear the dragons when they spoke. Ryu found this strange, as Chun-Li could understand them easily.

"To fix the problem."

"Like the weather?" she asked.

_The balance of the world isn't right, _the creature, Water, replied. _But the two of us alone can't figure out what's causing it...  
_  
"Then who can?" Chun-Li asked, speaking up for the first time.

_Fire, and Air! _Earth said.

Water nodded her head. _We'll hear their calls, as I heard yours.  
_  
"Then did you bring us here?" Ryu asked.

_No. I revealed to Earth where I was, _she explained. Ryu remembered the images of this beach flashing through his mind seconds before they appeared here.

_I can go anywhere, _Earth explained in his kind, innocent voice. _Anywhere that I can see. _A useful skill to have, Ryu thought. He wondered if this other dragon, Water, had a special talent as well.

"This is so strange," Chun-Li said, laughing a little.

"I know, it's a lot to take in. But, these are dragons," Ryu said, but Chun-Li shook her head.

"No, I don't mean that. I just realised, ever since I landed in China, I've had this strange urge to call you, to see you. I couldn't tell you why. It's not like I had anything important to tell you." She shook her head, realising she was rambling a bit in her nervous state. "But now, suddenly, here you are. And I feel a little better, in spite of all of this." She waved a hand to indicate the two animals.

_You felt the pull_, Water said. _The pull of your partners in this mission._

"What?" Chun-Li questioned. "What do I have to do with any of this?"

_You pledged your soul to me, millenia ago, _Water said, _As he did to Earth, and two others to Fire and Air. You always felt that pull stronger than they, however. Your intuition was your greatest asset._

_"_Pledged my soul?" she echoed. The statement was a little strong, and Chun-Li didn't like the idea of her soul being given to someone else before she even had a say in it, before she was even born.

_All of you swore yourselves to our service, _Water replied. _And now we hold you to that._

"But...this isn't something we ever chose to do," Chun-Li replied with a slow shake of her head.

_You did...long ago._

Chun-Li bit her lip, and turned her eyes to Ryu. He looked back, determination in his eyes. "A promise is a promise," Ryu said.

She sighed, defeated, and looked back to Water. The dragon drew closer to the others, watching the young woman expectantly with green eyes. Chun-Li nodded, eyes closed, and said, "A promise is a promise."  
...

His eyes passed over the screen, picking through various news streams in hopes of finding something worthwhile. Many of them were displaying ominous news related to the weather. Nothing new. He glanced over at Rose, who was contemplating a new spread silently. He would be leaving soon, and she was trying to expedite the process by ignoring him as much as possible. But he wasn't put off by her silence. He looked back down at the handheld, and, deciding he had nothing to lose, ran a search with the query 'dragon sighting'. He sighed as he looked over the results. As expected, they all seemed fairly ridiculous, and he felt a bit like a fool for ever making the search to begin with.

But then, one link caught his eye-'Dragon Sightings on China Coastline-New Fantasy Film in the Making?' He clicked it after noticing the article was dated as having been posted the day before. The article spoke about some amateur photographs turned in by a man walking his dog on a secluded beach. The writer speculated about the possibility of a new film or television show being filmed there, and stressed how impressive the make-up and animatronics were. Naturally, the photographs were at the end of the article. The first was blurry, ultimately useless, and Bison didn't understand why they displayed it at all. The second and third, however, showed two large creatures, one with a stocky build and long, thick neck in shades of green and blue, the other more slender and elegant, in blues and greens. Atop the bulkier one was a Japanese man in white, and a school girl. Standing beside the two creatures was a Chinese woman with a very distinctive hairstyle. Bison recognised them immediately, and he smirked. "So. These are the people you couldn't tell me about, Rose? The Emperor and the Empress? Or perhaps Ryu was the Devil, still struggling with his darker half?"

Rose looked up, brows furrowing. "How did you-?"

"Technology is a wonderful thing," he replied, wagging the phone left and right. "You should invest in some."

She frowned, and said, "This wasn't supposed to happen... You weren't supposed to know." She looked back down at her cards, then up at Bison. "I can't allow you to bring them to harm."

"I'll let them do their duties. But I can't guarantee their safety afterwards," Bison said with a smile, studying the pictures again as if to make sure they hadn't suddenly disappeared, or changed. But no, Ryu and Chun-Li still stood beside the dragons, and his smile widened. Finding the Interpol agent would be simple enough. The young shotokan warrior, however, would be a different story. But he would simply make the girl talk, perhaps use her to bring him to the general. Either way, he knew the scales were tipping in his favour.

He had a flight to catch.


	9. State Your Designation

Huzzah for Substrata surpassing a thousand views! :D Cool beans you guys! Thanks for reading/reviewing/faving/alerting/aaaand C2ing! You're the best!

Eight

"Sooo, let me get this straight," Sakura said with a slight tilt of her head, looking skyward towards grey clouds as she spoke. Trees swayed gently overhead in the slight breeze. Nightfall was coming, and it'd get cold quick. They'd learned this the night before, having been forced into camping out in the woods, unsure of how to get the dragons anywhere near civilisation without attracting a lot of attention. "These two guys are dragons. Really, really old dragons. And you two basically sold your souls to them, thousands of years ago? And the dragons talk to you telepathically?"

Chun-Li sighed and Ryu nodded. "Sort of," he said patiently. "They don't remember a whole lot about themselves, but they must be pretty old. I mean, Earth here knew the city before it was even a city. Before it was even really a village."

"But we didn't _sell _our souls to them," Chun-Li interjected. She didn't like the way that sounded, as if she were driven by greed. "We swore ourselves to their service. Apparently."

"Why can't they talk to me telepathically?"

"I couldn't answer that one for you," Ryu said, putting his hands up. "It's a bit strange. Earth didn't communicate with words at first. He used pictures-images he put into my mind. Until Water came along."

"As much as I would love to figure out this problem of communication," Chun-Li said, "we really should figure out what to do about him." She nodded to the large brown and green dragon, who blinked his big dopey eyes back at her in response. "I don't know how long we can go hiding out in these woods before someone sees us, and wonders about him. Especially in such cold weather." While Earth had been able to travel great distances instantly with just an image of the place to go by, Water had her own convenient talent-being able to shift her form. Much like actual water taking the shape of the container in which it is held, she could stretch and become larger, or shrink to the size of a small lizard, making her a lot easier to hide than her bulkier brother.

"Well, first thing's first," Ryu said, crossing his arms over his chest. Sakura and Chun-Li both knew that meant he was about to say something which he wouldn't have his mind changed about, and waited anxiously for him to finish speaking. "_You _need to get on a plane back home." He nodded to the young Japanese girl, who groaned in response.

"No way, Ryu! That's not fair! Things are just starting to get interesting! Two dragons-and two more to find? And now some crazy Korean lady is sending mercenaries after you guys? I think I'm sticking around!" she replied defiantly. Ryu admired her bravery, but he felt it was simply too risky to continue to allow her to accompany them.

"Sakura, Ryu's right," Chun-Li said. "Things are getting more dangerous. It isn't safe for you to be around us. You could get hurt,"

"I can take care of myself," Sakura responded. "And I won't get in your way!"

"If you were to get hurt, I'd never be able to forgive myself," Ryu said calmly. "We barely got out of S.I.N. as it was collapsing. I can't keep letting you get dragged into my messes. You aren't coming with us, Sakura, and that's final."

The girl sighed, fully realising that when Ryu said something was final, it usually really was. "Well...fine...but..you better tell me everything that happens when you get back to Japan!" she cried.

Ryu smiled. "I'll write you an entire book." He nodded towards the city. "Come on. We need to get you on a plane."

"Er, no offense to you, Ryu-san, but...with what money?"

The three campers contemplated that question for a second, before realising that Chun-Li was the only person with any way to pay for anything right now. But this would require her to return to her apartment, which could still potentially be dangerous. "I can pay for it," she said. "We just need to get back to my home."

"Do you think those guys are all gone?" Sakura asked.

"We'll all go with her, just to be safe," Ryu said.

"What about him?" Chun-Li asked, nodding to Earth.

"Can't he just teleport me?" the Japanese girl asked. She smiled then. "Wow, that's something I never thought I'd be saying any time soon!"

Ryu looked to Earth, and repeated the question. He then relayed the response to Sakura, saying, "He could, but it sounds like the greater the distance, the greater the toll it takes on him. And he did just do it yesterday..."

"What about a smaller distance, like my apartment?" Chun-Li asked.

The question took Ryu by surprise. He expected the Chinese woman to be a little more resistant to all of this more fantastical stuff. But now she was beginning to accept it, he supposed. So he asked Earth, _Can you take us to her home? It's not far._

"Won't he be too big? Couldn't he break through the floors or something?" Sakura whispered, as if afraid to insult the dragon.

"I think it'll be fine," Chun-Li whispered back.

_I can take you there, _Earth said, nodding his head slowly. _Show me where._

"Chun-Li, think about where you'd like him to take us," Ryu said.

So she did. She wasn't too fond of all of these strange abilities, the telepathy and such. But she tried to cooperate as best as she could, for her friends' sake. It was just so difficult to take it seriously. But then, she opened her eyes, and she was in the bedroom of her apartment, with the enormous green and brown dragon curled up on her bed, neck bent low to avoid the low ceiling. The place seemed a lot more cramped with him in it. Sakura grinned widely. "Oh, that gets cooler every time we do it!" she exclaimed.

There was a creaking sound, and for a minute, Chun-Li feared that the floor in her bedroom was going to give way to the enormous weight being applied to it. And then, something snapped and crashed to the floor with a heavy thud. Earth grunted, and blinked rapidly, looking down at the broken bed frame beneath him. He lowered his head, as if feeling ashamed. Water slithered out from inside of Chun-Li's sleeve to inspect the source of the noise, and sighed loudly. _You great oaf. You're too big for something so small!_

_I'm sorry, _Earth replied quietly.

"It's...fine," Chun-Li said, waving her hand. She began to pray for the strength of her floor-or another tenant's roof, in this case. A new bed was affordable enough. But the floor of her apartment-not to mention the potential legal issues-were not. Plus she might get kicked out for housing a 'pet'. "Just, try not to move around too much." She looked to Ryu and Sakura. "My things are in the kitchen. Come on." The two followed her quietly into the darkened apartment. All three were nervous, knowing full well that the people who had broken in before could still be here. It'd been a whole day since she'd been attacked, and she wanted to believe they were gone.

But the cold barrel of a gun pressed against the nape of her neck made it clear to her that they weren't. She inhaled sharply. "Now, let's all just stay quiet this time, huh?"

"This is getting old," Ryu muttered, in the same predicament. The three were lined up against the nearest wall, each with a firearm pointed at some part of their skull.

"You guys are working for the crazy Korean lady too, aren't you?" Sakura asked.

"What part of 'quiet' don't you get, kiddo?" the first man said. They were dressed in black, their faces covered save for their eyes. "I'll make this simple, okay? I don't really wan to kill any of you. The reward for getting you alive is a lot bigger. Plus, killing's a hell of a lot harder to clean up than a kidnapping. So, I'm just interested in _you_." He tilted his gun at Chun-Li. "The rest of you can go on your merry little ways. But keep your mouths shut. We'll be listening out, you see?"

_I smell something strange, Ryu, _Earth said.

_Guns, _Ryu responded. Chun-Li found it unsettling enough that there was a gun in her face. She didn't need the additional distraction of a telepathic conversation. _Remember? Men with guns, like in your cave._

There was a noise in the bedroom, and Chun-Li thought for sure the floor was going to collapse. But she realised it was a low, sort of braying noise. She felt Water scurry up her sleeve, and onto her shoulder, poking her thin head out to survey the problem. _What will they do with those guns?_

_Loud noises, awful smells, and it hurts!_

_Stay calm, Earth, we can take care of this, _Ryu said. Chun-Li wanted to ask him if he was serious about that. All three of them were quite cornered, and outnumbered, as more men filtered in from the living room.

"That area's all clear," one of them said.

"All right, check the bedroom next," the man in charge said. Chun-Li thought she was going to be sick. "That's where they all came from. Make sure no one else is in there."

"Got it." The three other men headed towards the closed door, and opened it.

...  
"You've got to be kidding me."

Maya pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. She sighed, and stood up straight, looking up at the android's face once more. "State your designation," she commanded.

"I am a cybernetic unit, designated Number Twenty-Three by Shadaloo Intimidation Network scientist Dr. Richard Merlow."

"Wonderful. You _can _obey a command," she muttered. The machine continued staring forward, unblinking. The lack of emotion was eerie in a face so human. She hated looking at the thing. "Execute combat training program."

"Executing..." She waited anxiously. It seemed like forever, and then, "Execution failed."

"Diagnosis?"

"Error: combative responses missing."

"Compile a list of the missing responses?"

"Error: communication with tandem engine has been disrupted."

"Perfect," Maya said with another sigh. "Unit Twenty-Three, your central processing unit was communicating with the tandem engine just fine when we started this." She glanced down once more at her hand held, which displayed the status of the machine. "What happened between then and now?"

"Diagnosing..." A pause. "Power cycling the machine can sometimes clear errors. Do you wish to do this now?"

"No."

Another pause. "Secure all cables, checking carefully to ensure that they are all connected properly."

"You can tell me that," she responded, becoming a little irritated at the machine. Why would it tell her to do it when it knew very well it could do so for itself? She was beginning to think that this one 'salvageable' machine was not really salvageable at all. It was riddled with errors, completely inexplicable ones more often than not. She was running out of ideas on how to fix these almost imaginary problems. The computer, obviously, wouldn't lie, so something was wrong with it. She just couldn't figure out what. And without being able to perform properly, she couldn't gauge its current proficiency in combat, and definitely couldn't use it to lure out the girl who coveted it so much. "We'll get this right eventually." She turned her eyes from her hand held and back to the machine. "Power down."

And without a word it became silent, the gentle whirring of the tandem engine slowing to a halt. She looked at the tall grey humanoid. It didn't even breathe. It was unsettling, that something which so closely resembled a human didn't have the need to breathe. It was like a corpse.

...  
He didn't bother knocking. The girl would've answered the door and slammed it in his face, which would result in him simply bypassing the troublesome obstacle altogether by way of teleportation. Psycho power was truly a miraculous thing. Were it only that he possessed a body strong enough to withhold its full potential, he truly could become unstoppable. But this would do... for now. He stepped forward, passing through the door and into the little foyer on the other side. The light was on in the kitchen, and he heard a man speaking. "...the bedroom next. That's where they all came from..."

Bison watched as three men dressed in black, wielding handguns, walked across the room towards a closed door. He smirked. Was someone else after the Interpol agent already? They weren't his; any leftovers he had weren't going to come after Chun-Li Xiang with nothing but a few handguns. They knew better than that. It was then that he decided to make his appearance. "Am I interrupting?" he said, delighted to find not just Chun-Li, but Ryu as well. They were against the wall, guns to their heads. So perhaps they were slipping in their old age.

"We should've known," Chun-Li spat.

"Who the hell are you?" one of the men questioned, now pointing their gun at the newcomer.

"They aren't mine, dear," Bison responded with a wave of his hand, ignoring the man altogether. "You see, I wouldn't ha-"

"Jesus Christ what the hell is that thing?"

"Shoot it!"

A roar went up into the air, and everything erupted into chaos. Gunshots were fired, something rumbled in the bedroom, and there was another roar. The three men in the kitchen became distracted as one of their own black-clad comrades flew through the open door of the bedroom and landed in the kitchen with a heavy thud. Ryu, Chun-Li, and Sakura used the distraction to their advantage, attempting to relieve the men of their guns all at the same time. "Backup! In the kitchen, now!" the apparent leader cried. The two other men scrambled from the bedroom, terror written on their faces.

Bison approached them before they could reach their friends, grabbing the first and shoving him into the second. He caught a glimpse of some brown and green creature, and two large, golden eyes, and was filled with delight. Of all the dumb stories he'd ever heard Rose speak of, this one was the real thing. The split-second distraction was just enough for one of the men to fight back, pistol whipping the larger man. Bison growled, and grabbed him by the head, sparks of electricity at his fingertips. The man began to go into convulsions, groaning.

"Tell Earth to get us out of here!" the Japanese girl screamed as more shots were fired.

"Where?" Ryu cried back amid the noisy chaos. Bison took notice of the fact that Ryu suddenly appeared to be made entirely of rock-no longer fleshy and vulnerable. Again, he felt a surge of joy. It was true. All of it was true.

"Anywhere but here!"

And suddenly, the cramped, chaotic apartment was gone. Bison steadied himself, looking around for the others. Teleportation was nothing new to him. But he'd never covered such a great distance before. There was no way he'd been the one to do this. He watched the other three carefully as they took in their new surroundings. No, he most certainly hadn't been the one to do this.

"Where are we?" Sakura questioned, looking around. Grass was underfoot, and an upper middle class home sat quietly behind them in the early morning hours. They were in a backyard, it seemed.

"You brought _him?_" Chun-Li shouted suddenly, pointing at Bison.

"I'm insulted," the general responded flatly. He then heard a loud snuffling quite close to his head, and he whipped around quickly. The creature which had been inspecting him drew its head back sharply at the sudden movement, eyes flying open.

"He thought Bison was on _our _side," Ryu explained. "Because he fought against the men with the guns..."

"Well, then, perhaps it would please you greatly to know that I _am _on your side," he said in his own defense. He glanced back at Earth, who continued to sniff at him cautiously.

"Oh, now there's a laugh," Chun-Li responded, hand on her hip. "Where's your little cadre, tall, crazy, and stupid? When's the ambush?"

"Women, always so irrational. Really, can't you be calm and civil for just a second?"

"Why be civil to something that isn't civilised," she hissed.

"Maybe everybody should calm down," Ryu said, hands spread. "Just a bit. We've got some pressing matters to attend to."

"Like?" the angered woman snapped.

"Getting out of Guile's backyard before he wakes up and kills us all."

"Whoa, we're at Guile's house?" Sakura cried. "Like, in America?" She paused, then scrunched up her nose in confusion. "Whose idea was _that?_"

Ryu shrugged. "It wasn't me. I was too busy trying to get a gun out of my face to take too much time to think of where would be a safe place to go."

Chun-Li bit her lip, and then said, "It was me. It was the first safe place that came to mind."

Bison smirked. "How sweet."

"I'll make him eat you," Chun-Li threatened, pointing to the dragon behind him.

"I'm sure. Except, I had Ryu pinned for the servant of Earth, and yourself as the servant of Water."

That caused the others to stare back at Bison in shock. "How do you know...?" Chun-Li said slowly.

"I know a lot more than you'd think," he replied smoothly. "And if you'd simply take a second to hear me out, you'd realise that I'm here to _help _you. "

"What, last chance at redemption or something?" Sakura asked sarcastically.

"Haven't you got a bedtime?" Bison asked, exasperated with the difficulty these people were having with simply letting him speak.

"Why." The short, irritable intonation broke through the arguments, and all heads turned towards the shirtless figure standing by the back door on the porch. "Just _why_ is this what I get to wake up to in the morning. Coulda been a nice sunrise. Maybe even a cute little bunny hopping through my yard. Hell, I'd take a damned _possum _as the first thing I see this morning over _this."_

"Guile..." Chun-Li said, beginning to feel a little guilty for thinking of this place first. Earth had, of course, not known any better.

"Don't start killing each other until I've had some coffee at least," Guile said with a sigh, turning away from them and storming back into his house.

"He took that rather well, I'd say," Ryu announced.

Then, an angered cry of "God _damnit!_" could be heard from within the otherwise perfectly quiet house.

Ryu sighed. "Kind of."


	10. Feisty

"Start talking." Sitting around a table on the patio were Guile, Ryu, Chun-Li, Sakura, and Bison. How Chun-Li brought herself to be calm enough to sit across from the wretched man was a mystery to everyone present. Each had their own vendettas against him-and with good reason-but both Guile and Ryu were good at keeping their calm, and Sakura only really knew him as the man who brainwashed Ryu. Chun-Li, however, just couldn't understand their strange acceptance of him. He didn't belong here.

"I don't feel right divulging anything in the presence of that man," Chun-Li said simply.

Bison smirked. "Don't worry, anything you know, I've already known for months now. None of it is news to me, and I likely know more about all of this than any of you."

"Well then explain it," Guile snapped, still looking groggy. He was, as all present were learning, not much of a morning person. "Because I don't want to have to explain to my wife and child when they get back why there are two giant lizard...dinosaur...things in the backyard, along with one of the most hated men on the planet."

"They're dragons," Sakura said quietly. She wasn't used to seeing Guile get angry, and felt like she was walking on eggshells just by being around him. It was unsettling, but she still tried to help out any way she could. In this case, that would mean explaining to him the bizarre situation as best as one could.

"Dragons," the man echoed, staring at the two slumbering creatures from his porch. "Right."

"And they have to save the world," she continued. "And Ryu and Chun-Li are helping, because thousands of years ago, they pledged their souls to the dragons, and they have superpowers."

Guile exhaled loudly, closing his eyes for a brief few seconds. Bison chuckled quietly. Ryu and Chun-Li exchanged awkward glances. It really did sound ridiculous, especially in the manner in which Sakura had explained everything. "Well, it's true..." Ryu said, willing himself to turn to stone as he had before during the shoot outs. He poked Guile's shoulder with a rocky finger, and the blond's eyes opened slowly. He glanced at Ryu, wondering why the man had poked him, and then, he did a double-take, nearly falling out of his chair as he backed up suddenly.

"What...?"

"I don't even know," Ryu responded with a shake of his head.

"Each of the dragons' companions were given gifts in return for their services. You serve Earth, and in return, he gave you this power," Bison explained. He nodded in Chun-Li's direction. "She's liable to have one too, she simply hasn't discovered it yet."

"It's not really your business," Chun-Li muttered in response.

"How did you find these things..uh, these dragons?" Guile asked, brows drawn together in confusion. He felt like an idiot for asking such a bizarre question. But the bizarre circumstances required some explanation. There was a living statue sitting right next to him, after all.

"I found Earth in a cave in the woods, not too far from my home," Ryu responded. "The weird weather woke him up, he said. And then these men attacked..."

"Who were they?"

"We're still not sure. They said they worked for a Korean lady. They didn't even know her name," the Japanese man answered.

"It started with a J," Sakura added.

"Juri Han," Bison said coldly.

"You know who it is?" Guile asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Of course he does," Chun-Li said with a sigh.

"Juri Han is the daughter of a prestigious Korean lawyer...who also happened to be an obstacle for Shadaloo."

"Christ," Guile muttered. "You killed her dad, didn't you?"

"Not me, personally, of course," Bison responded indifferently. "But I ordered it to be done."

"That's pretty terrible," Sakura said quietly, giving a sidelong glance to the large man beside her. She knew he was a bad person. But it seemed like every time he spoke, he became more and more cruel. It was almost hopeless, it seemed. She wanted to think there was _some _good in him-there had to be a bit in everyone, she thought-but it was getting more difficult to think that way the more she learned about him.

"Just how many people's lives do you have to ruin before you're done?" Chun-Li snapped.

"As many as it takes," Bison replied.

"Why is Juri after us?" Ryu said. He knew Bison deserved any of the number of harsh words which Chun-Li was ready to say to him, but it was all useless in the end. Just words. And none of them would have an impact on a man like Bison. And none of them would fix what had already happened. It was a senseless expulsion of energy, getting worked up over that man in a setting such as this. He had information they needed to hear right now. They might possibly be able to understand the motives of their assailant, to find out how to stop her, and to find the location of the last two dragons. If Bison was anything, he was resourceful. And they could use that sort of talent right now.

Chun-Li fumed silently, clenching her fists as Bison spoke. "I haven't the slightest clue. Shadaloo's in pieces, she's gotten what she wanted."

"Is it possible she also knows about the dragons?" Ryu asked, wondering if there was any chance at a connection.

"It's highly unlikely."

Ryu sighed, leaning his elbows on the table now. "So not only do we have to fix the planet and find the two other dragons, but there's also this Juri woman to deal with?"

"So it would appear."

"There are two other dragons?" Guile asked.

"One for fire, one for air," Bison responded. "And in turn they will have partners, like Ryu and Chun-Li."

"Well, who are they?"

"I've been hoping to find out myself. The only one who knows won't reveal them to me."

"Why do you need to know?" Chun-Li snapped.

Bison sighed and rolled his eyes. "I don't have any desire to die any time soon, do you? I want these four found, the problem fixed, as soon as possible. I'll do all that's necessary to make it happen."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," the woman responded.

"If you want to know what I know, then you'll rethink that statement."

"How could you expect any of us to trust you?" Guile asked. "You've only tried to kill us, to brainwash us, to kidnap us, killed our friends and family..." He ticked the points off on his fingers as he spoke. "Do you really expect us to believe _anything _you have to say means any gain for anyone but yourself?"

"I'd call _continuing to exist _a big gain for myself, but I suppose that's just me," Bison answered.

"Fine," Chun-Li said, crossing her arms. "Let's say we go along with your little charade. Where is it we're supposed to go to find these others?"

"I don't, personally, have this information," he responded. "I know a woman who does."

"Would you have happened to have killed her parents, too?" Chun-Li asked with a venomous smile on her face.

"Were it only that I'd had the chance," Bison said with a mocking sort of whimsy.

"Chill out, you guys," Sakura groaned.

Suddenly, Earth's head shot up, long, thin neck arched as he seemed to become interested in something. It was the first time the dragon had moved since he'd fallen asleep. _There was a noise, _he said.

_Just us talking, _Ryu said.

_No. _Earth replayed the noise which he'd heard to Ryu and Chun-Li. It sounded like something slamming shut. _  
_

Ryu, and Chun-Li as well, now strained to hear any sounds as Guile studied the dragon. "Hey, he moved."

"He heard something," Ryu said quietly.

Bison stood up immediately, looking through the glass doors into Guile's home. "Expecting any visitors, Major?"

"No," Guile said in a low voice as he turned to look into his house. It was empty, with his wife and child having been away visiting relatives for the week. He was enjoying his peace and quiet, until all of this came along. The distinct sound of car doors being shut reached their ears, and everyone watched the quiet house.

"Maybe it's neighbours," Sakura whispered, afraid to speak too loud for missing another sound.

"Well, isn't this a pretty sight." All eyes turned from the interior of the home to the slim figure of a young girl in the backyard behind them. She raised an eyebrow as she surveyed the area, looking slightly startled as she focused on the two dragons in the yard. But instead of reacting in a manner one would expect, she seemed to become increasingly interested in them. Earth looked frightened, backing away from her, while Water looked over her with cold eyes.

"You realise this is private property?" Guile said, standing up.

"And you realise...I could really care less?" she sneered.

"Get outta my yard, kid," Guile snapped, irritated with the girl's attitude.

"This is Juri," Bison said with a sigh.

"The person sending all of those men after us is a little kid?" Chun-Li asked, raising an eyebrow as she watched the girl approach.

"Kid? Excuse me? What's _that _supposed to mean? If I had the time, I would've come for you and Ryu and any of the others myself." She sighed, and rolled her eyes as she spoke. "But I guess I put too much faith in a bunch of idiots with guns."

"Others?" Ryu asked. "What others?"

"Just a handful of the most elite fighters in the world, as far as I know, anyhow," she explained. "You two-well, three-happen to be a few of them."

"A girl after my own heart," Bison muttered.

"You're severely outnumbered here, kid," Guile warned, pointing a finger at her. "Don't think we'll go easy on you if you intend to do any of us harm."

"True, I didn't expect to find all of you here. But, I can think of a few ways to even the odds," she said with a sadistic little grin.

The sound of shattering glass brought everyone's attention back to the once empty home behind them. Men were speaking quickly within, boots pounding against the hardwood floors. Almost as instantly as they came towards the back half of the house, the men inside spotted the group on the porch. One of the men called loudly to others who had ventured off to different parts of the house, pointing outside. Each was carrying a weapon and wearing thick body armour. As the men poured out of the house, they quickly surrounded the fighters at the table, guns levelled as they did so.

Ryu began to feel an overwhelming sense of panic emanating from the dragon, and tried to tell him to stay calm. But the dragon didn't like the guns, and could smell them before they'd even been fired. "We're in a bit of a bind here," he whispered to Guile over his left shoulder.

"We're not going to let a couple of guys with guns take us down," Guile responded. "I think we've seen worse."

_Ryu._

_Not now, Earth. Just be calm. It'll be okay._

The dragon groaned loudly, and all eyes went to it. Juri was approaching it, a malicious grin on her face. "Now, just what might you two be?" she asked. Earth withdrew as she approached, plainly terrified.

_Oh, you great lummox! _Water groaned, and slammed her tail full force into Juri's stomach. The girl stumbled back, and turned it into a graceful backflip to gain her footing again.

"Feisty!" She crossed her arms and cocked her head, glancing up at the group on the patio. "Kill Bison and the little girl. The rest have to stay alive for the project. But these things...I want to know more about them."

"You three, on the wall," one of the men said, indicating Guile, Chun-Li, and Ryu. Sakura's eyes went wide as she watched them walk towards the house. She should've left for the airport like Ryu said. Her heart began to race as she watched the men raise their guns. This couldn't be happening to her. She glanced over at Bison beside her, who seemed completely disinterested in the fact that these men were about to pour several rounds into them. In fact, he looked bored. Her eyes then went to Ryu, and she sent him a pleading look.

He was quickly trying to figure out how to save Sakura. The girl in charge, Juri, obviously wanted the three against the wall alive. She'd said so herself. So if the three of them were to not comply with the orders given to them, what was the worst she could do? Then men could possibly incapacitate them, but how? He imagined getting the butt of one of those guns slammed into the back of his head. Then what sort of help would he be? He glanced to Chun-Li, then Guile, who both stared contemptuously at the men lining up in front of Sakura and Bison. This couldn't be allowed to happen. Ryu let out a wordless cry as he charged the man in front of him with every ounce of strength he had. Chun-Li and Guile did the same almost instantly, but the men seemed prepared, shoving back roughly, throwing punches.

And then there was the terrible sound of muffled gunfire. Panic rolled over him in waves as Earth began to cry out at the sound. Ryu growled angrily, grabbing one of the black clad men and throwing him to the ground hard. He watched helplessly, tears in his eyes as the men fired again and again on his friend, who he had dragged into all of this. He stumbled slightly, putting a hand to his head as bizarre images of a barren, lifeless landscape came to his mind suddenly, panic mingling with his own grief. He didn't have time for this. Didn't the dragon realise what had just happened? Sakura was dying!

A dramatic sigh reached Ryu's ears, and he looked up again. "Are you finished now?" Bison asked the stunned men in black, tilting his head to the side. The men holding the guns exchanged glances. Each bullet which had been fired hovered harmlessly inches away from Bison and Sakura. The two were completely unharmed. The men fired again and again, and each bullet came to rest at the same spot in midair. "We can do this all morning, really, but I have more important matters to attend to."

"You bastard!" Juri screamed. She ran towards Bison, who spun around quickly, electric sparks dancing at his fingertips. Guile and Chun-Li were now engaged in battling the gunners nearest them, having varying degrees of success landing blows and avoiding taking any hits. Sakura, still shaking and wide-eyed, stood completely still, trying to absorb everything that was going on around her. Ryu began to feel like he was on overdrive as more scenery flew through his mind, and the panic became overwhelming as Earth began to say, _We're going now, we're going._

_"_Going where?" Chun-Li shouted over the chaos.

Juri reached Bison, leaping into the air, eye glowing purple as she prepared to attack him. He smirked, challenging, mocking her with a simple look.

_Fire is burning the world, _Water replied sorrowfully.

And then, they disappeared.  
_...  
_Rose tucked violet strands behind her ear as she stood hesitantly before the door. It was now or never, she supposed. And she hadn't flown all of this way just to retreat from her mission at the last second. This woman, however, would be difficult. She could _feel _the cynicism already, the air of superiority. She didn't need to even look at the woman for any indication of such an attitude. But it had to be done. Inhaling deeply, calming her fears, she lifted a loosely clenched fist, and rapped on the door three times. There was a noise inside, and then, the click of heels against the tile floor. And then the door was open, and a red-haired woman looked back at her with a critical eye. "Can I help you?"

"It would be in your best interest to do so," Rose replied.

The woman in the office quirked an eyebrow, and answered, "Really now? And why's that?"

And this is where Rose felt that things would become difficult. The situation with the dragons and their partners was just the tip of the cosmological iceberg that the planet was headed straight for, if something wasn't going to be done soon. The cards she'd read last had revealed that much. She was still in the dark, for the most part. What she did know was that Bison had found Earth and Water, and was on track to be meeting Fire soon. And this filled her with the worst possible sort of dread. The dragon and his counterpart had been tainted, and with Bison's malicious intentions, there was no telling what would become of the two. And beyond that, was Air, who was in a similar predicament. Bison could not be allowed to influence the course of these events, or the world would head towards dark directions. But what this red-headed woman had to do with all of this was still being kept a mystery to Rose. Why this was necessary, when so much was at stake, was unknown to her still. But she knew she had to put her faith in what the world was trying to tell her. So Rose chose her words carefully when she spoke. "You know of a man, M. Bison." It wasn't really a question, because she already knew the answer.

"Anybody with eyes or ears knows the name Bison," the woman said, sounding slightly irritated. She crossed her arms and leaned into the door frame.

"You know of his dealings in the...supernatural, then?" Rose said, driving straight to the point. She didn't much care for this woman's brand of condescending discourse.

Now the red-head seemed more interested. She nodded towards her office, and Rose followed the woman inside, taking a seat. The agent sat at her desk, waiting impatiently for a response. "Who are you, and what do you know about the extent of M. Bison's capabilities?"

"My name is Rose. I'm a...relative of his," she replied, unsure of how to explain to an average person how one soul can split into two halves and inhabit completely separate bodies. She figured she could save this bit of information for later, if the woman ended up trusting her at all. And if not, what could it hurt for her to not know?

"Can't say I see the resemblance," the woman said, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow. She sat back in her chair. "So you know where he is right now?"

"I have a vague idea."

"Good. You can help lure the bastard out and we can put him away for good. He's wanted all over the world. I'd tell you why, but it's quite a mouthful." The woman paused, then looked back over at Rose, waiting for a response.

"I know just how terrible he is, believe me," Rose responded quietly. "But I'm not here to help you arrest him. You can't. It's simply not within your power to do so."

"Oh yeah? How's that?"

"He's too powerful. His... 'capabilities', as you said, are simply too great. No cell could hold him-he'd quiet easily walk through any walls you try to keep him in. Armed guards mean nothing to him. Bullets are like flies, waiting to be swatted away."

"Well, if you aren't going to help, then you're only going to be in the way," the woman said simply with a shrug. "You're wasting my time."

"If you would listen to what I have to tell you-"

"Unless those words are 'Bison', 'is', 'in', and a location, then I could really care less about what you have to tell me." She stood up, walking towards the door.

"The entire planet is in danger," Rose said quickly, hoping this would get the woman's attention.

But instead, she laughed. "All right, sweetheart. Sure thing. I should've known you were just a crazy from the get-go. Bison's sibling, that's a good one." The red-head nodded and laughed again, opening the door to her office.

Irritated, Rose got up, and said, "You may find it hard to believe now. And I understand. You aren't used to this sort of thing-few are, really." The other woman simply sighed and rolled her eyes, shifting her weight to one foot. "But the time is coming where you'll be needed. I can only hope that you'll realise it sooner rather than later."

"Right, okay, bye," she said, nodding and all but pushing Rose out into the hallway. And then the door was closed. The violet-haired woman closed her eyes and sighed, unsure of what to do next. She thought over the spread which had caused her to come to this office in America to begin with. This was the face which matched the Hierophant-authority and order. It made sense that she was a CIA agent. And that she wouldn't give Rose a chance to explain anything-it was all too strange, too unfamiliar. It didn't fit with what she knew, and so, she would reject it. Rose couldn't quite understand how this woman fit into the rest of the puzzle. She was not one of the four, and she had been led to believe that these were the only ones that mattered right now.

The thought that there was more to all of it than she'd initially been led to believe was one which had not crossed her mind just yet.


	11. Fire Burned the World

"Damn," the Korean girl muttered angrily, clenching her fist tightly as her feet came to rest in the grass again. "That bastard teleported them all away." She didn't want to admit to it, but she envied the old dictator for his interesting little skill-psycho power. It was something she'd only learned about through him, and knew one day she would pursue it herself. But for now, she had to make due with what she had.

"What do we do now?" one of the men asked, slinging his gun over his shoulder.

She rolled her eyes. "We keep going down the list. Find the next one. And that android, too." She was becoming a little peeved at the way things were turning out for her. Only a few of the necessary candidates had been captured, and now Bison, along with three of the other candidates, had disappeared. She could wait for them to surface again, she supposed. After all, things weren't going anywhere until she got that android back from that CIA agent.

Then there was the issue of those two _interesting _little monsters that she had seen here. They seemed fairly intelligent, for animals, and they even interpreted her as a threat. What they were, exactly, was still a mystery to her. Probably experimental creations of Bison's. And even stranger than the monsters was the fact that Bison had been here at all, speaking calmly with people who despised him as if it were nothing. Something strange was going on, and she was beginning to worry if perhaps they had caught wind of her plans, and were attempting to band together in order to stop her. She smiled at the thought. What a joke. Bison teaming up with anyone was an impossibility she was willing to stake her success on.  
...

"You're _pretty _persistent, sweetheart." Maya crossed her arms, slightly exasperated at once more crossing paths with the violet-haired Italian woman. She sipped her hot chocolate as she walked along the busy street, Rose keeping pace beside her.

"Something terrible will happen here today," Rose said simply, wishing for all the world that she'd acted sooner. She should have actively looked for the four since she first turned a card, then, perhaps, the world would not have reached this point. They could have undone the problems, and everyone would be safe. But now, it was too late for that. There was yet still time to save everyone, but for this city...

"Really. What'll it be today? Flying saucers attack the city? Big Foot runs for presidency?" Maya asked impatiently. "Come on, I'm all ears."

"You don't believe me," the other woman responded, eyes closed. "But after it happens, you will."

"I just don't know about that. After all-" Maya froze suddenly as she felt a slight tremor beneath her feet. That was certainly an unfamiliar sensation to her. The ground had shook. Rose didn't seem to react to it. Maybe she'd just imagined it. But then, as if to reassure her that it was all real, there was another, sharper tremor, and people began to slow to a halt in their walks, exchanging glances and asking if the other had just felt that. "What was that?"

Rose didn't respond. In a moment, she wouldn't have to. The shaking became greater and greater, and people began to panic. There was a rumbling, and cars began to rattle uncontrollably on the road. Maya cried out, steadying herself against a nearby light pole. She looked back over at Rose, who was standing there, perfectly still, on the side walk as if nothing was going on. People were screaming as the shaking became worse, running out of buildings. A fissure split the road beside them, the earth itself shifted and shook. The city itself was becoming dishevelled, and Maya held on for dear life as the shaking intensified. There was a loud sound, like a huge explosion, further up the road, and a cloud of snow and dust raced towards them as a building collapsed. Everything was in chaos, and she thought for sure the world was coming to an end and then...

It all stopped. As if nothing had ever happened. She glanced around, covering her mouth and nose in an effort to avoid inhaling too much dust. The road was split, with some pieces jutting up out of the ground sharply, cars rolling down into pits created by the crevices. People were crawling out, some bleeding, some crying. A lot of people were still screaming and shouting. A few buildings had collapsed. She shook her head at the sight, as if to ward it off. Earthquakes simply didn't happen in Washington D. C. What was going on? Maya looked over to Rose, who was still standing in the exact same spot as before, looking calm, but sorrowful. "It will only get worse from here."  
...

_What are the two of you doing here?_

_We were called._

_Not by me._

_Then who?_

Chun-Li woke up first. Granted she had only travelled in Earth's instantaneous way twice, but this time seemed a lot rougher on everyone than the last few. For starters, everyone seemed to have fallen unconscious. She looked around, taking a headcount, hoping no one-except maybe Bison-had been left behind. But the lighting was dim, and there was debris everywhere. Indeed, the building they were in seemed to be falling in on itself. And the air was quite warm, with an acrid odour. She wrinkled her nose, and coughed. Each inhalation felt like it brought her closer to death. She pushed herself into a sitting position, letting her eyes adjust to the dim light. She spotted Guile's blond hair fairly easily. Ryu's white gi, as well as Sakura's white blouse, also stood out. And now her eyes found one last figure, and she sighed. Bison. The stupid dragon had brought Bison with them, again. Didn't it realise that he was pure evil?

She reached over to Sakura, who was closest to her. Shaking the younger girl gently, she called out to her twice before she woke, shaking her head and coughing. "Yuck," she whispered shakily, still a little frightened. "What died?"

"Sakura!" Ryu said, sitting up suddenly. His eyes searched the dark room for a second, and when he found her, he smiled broadly. "Are you all right?"

"Yep, just fine," she said with a smile.

"You're welcome, by the way," Bison said suddenly, startling them as he pushed himself up.

"Yeah..um..thanks," Sakura said awkwardly, feeling strange for thanking the man. But he had saved her life. Whether it was on purpose or his little protective shield just happened to reach in front of her as well, she wasn't sure.

"Ugh," Guile groaned, swiping at his nose as he awoke. "Where in the hell are we? What happened? Where's my house?"

"Earth took us...somewhere," Ryu said, looking around. "Where is this place?" Ryu waited for a response. He thought the question, but there was no answer. "Earth?" There was a snuffling noise, and a low groan from the left. In the dark, they could see a heaving mound that must've been Earth's side. "Are you all right?"

_Tired._

_"_Too much travelling?" Chun-Li asked.

Images of plump, tasty sheep reached Ryu, and he sighed. "He needs food, bad. He's starving."

"Well, what does he eat?" Guile questioned. He hadn't been told exactly how they'd gotten here, and true, the lack of an explanation frustrated him, but he was giving up on that for the moment. He had no idea where they were, but it didn't seem particularly safe, with sections of the roof collapsed. He wanted out of here as quickly as possible.

"Animals. Meat, I mean," Ryu replied. "And we need to get Sakura home. So we just have to figure out a way for us to find some money, and we'll be set."

_Earth has brought us far from home, _Water replied, shrinking to a smaller size and disappearing into Chun-Li's sleeve.

"Nothing a plane can't fix, right?" Ryu said. He stood up, approaching Earth. "You'll be okay here, right? We can bring food back for you." There was no response, save for a vague sort of feeling of a confirmation. Ryu frowned.

One by one, everyone else began to stand up, following Ryu to the direction of stairs. Light seeped in from under the door, illuminating the way for them. Ryu reached the door first, and opened it. "Whoa," he whispered upon seeing the room which he'd just entered. It was the base floor of some sort of building, in ruins. The front wall had an enormous hole in it, and he could see other crumbling buildings, as well as a cracked and broken street, outside. "What happened here?" he wondered aloud as he walked towards the opening in the wall.

"This place must've been attacked," Guile said.

"But by who?" Chun-Li wondered. "And why?"

_The air is so dry..._ Water commented, tongue flicking out quickly like a snake's.

"How are we going to find food for Earth?" Sakura asked.

"We'll find it," Ryu said reassuringly. The group stepped out into their new environment, walking silently through empty streets. Cars were scattered around like toys, some on their sides or flipped completely. Some even lay inside of ruined buildings. They all looked severely burned. The sky was hazy, the sun appearing as if veiled by silk. But the slight clouds provided no cover from the heat. It was a stark contrast to the unseasonally cold world which they'd left behind, and one by one, they began discarding their outer layers of coats and jackets when the heat became too much. Fissures in the road ran the gamut from hairline cracks to massive gaps big enough to fit a car in. There was no grass, and the only indication that anything green had ever been here were the dried husks of toppled trees.

"Where on the planet is it still this warm right now?" Chun-Li said suddenly.

"Perhaps along the equator," Bison answered.

"It looks deserted," Guile said as he looked around. "We don't even know how close the nearest town is. And it could be just like this one."

"He's right," Ryu said.

"We should look inside these houses for food, anything that might have survived the attack, and refuel your dragon guy," he said. "Canned foods would probably still be good to eat, even if the attack on this place was nuclear."

"Is that possible?" Sakura asked shakily. "Because then...wouldn't we be exposed to harmful radiation?"

"Yes," Guile responded with a nod. "But the human body can withstand small amounts of exposure. Which is why we need to be quick."

"We're going to die, aren't we?" the girl asked quietly.

"Don't say that," Ryu said sternly. "There's no way of telling-"

Whooping cries went up in the distance, and Ryu froze. Everyone listened intently, wondering if perhaps the area was inhabited after all. The hum of engines could be heard, and everyone turned, searching the streets for any sign of a vehicle. "There are still people here," Chun-Li said quietly. More excited cries, and what sounded like laughter.

"Something tells me," Bison said lowly, "that we may not necessarily want to be seen by them."

"What are you talking about? They must know where some food is!" Chun-Li hissed.

"In a situation as desperate as this one appears, they may not necessarily be willing to share it with us," Bison replied.

Then, the sound of the motors grew nearer, and the first vehicle whipped around a corner a few blocks down from them. A man on a motorcycle, it appeared. Two more bikes followed. And then a few more behind that. As they approached, the group could make out more details of the men on the bikes. The guns in their hands and slung across their backs were the first things they took notice of. "I think we should run," Sakura said.

"Good idea," Guile replied with a nod. The group broke into a run, but were quickly overtaken by the bikers. Close up, the machines looked old and worn, some comprised of many different parts from varying bikes. The men, who they could see now were deformed and hideous for the most part, were whooping loudly, waving their guns in the air. The small group formed a tight circle, standing back to back as they watched the bikers ringing around them tighter and tighter.

"Lookit that," one of them cried. "They mussa been rich folk. Had them some nice shelters to keep out the rays!"

"They're not incs or mutys or anything!" another hollered. He laughed loudly.

"I think they're the ones that taste the best!"

"Ah, shit," Guile muttered, watching the men wearily. Why did he have to wake up this morning?

"How do we get ourselves out of this one, guys?" Ryu asked.

"Stake your claims!" one of the men screamed, and then suddenly, guns were drawn and fired. Except, there weren't bullets in these. There were hissing noises as darts were shot out of the barrels with compressed air. The group scrambled to avoid being hit. Ryu felt something sting his calf, and looked down, seeing a dart with a blue feathery end sticking out of him. He still ran, trying to keep Sakura out of harms way. He knew she was a competent fighter, and could hold her own, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to her. And these men were armed.

Chun-Li cried out next, hand going to her arm as she felt something puncture her shoulder. Wispy red feathers caught her eye, and she heard a man whooping. The motorcycles were following them. More darts flew, finding new targets. A green one sank into Sakura's leg, and a black one into Guile's back. She saw Ryu stumble suddenly, and one of the men on the bikes cried out triumphantly. "No!" she screamed as she saw his eyes roll back into his head. He couldn't be dead, could he? She herself was beginning to feel a little light-headed, but they had to go back for Ryu.

The only one who hadn't suffered a dart just yet was Bison, who continually shielded himself from the attacks using his psycho power. He was trying to fight back the mob of mutants as best as he could, but there were too many, moving too quickly. He saw Ryu fall, then Chun-Li, and knew that above all, they had to be kept safe. The other two he merely kept protecting due to their relationships with the more important individuals. It would help give the illusion of him being on their side, and he would have to do all he could to get these two to trust him. He saw the little girl faint next, a few feet away from Ryu. The motorcyclists who'd staked their claims with the darts were headed back to their prey. Bison raced back towards them, and saw Guile trip and fall as he attempted to do the same. He was panting heavily, and struggled to push himself back up.

And then, suddenly, he felt something sting his neck. He felt for it-the little metallic tube with its yellow feathery ends. He hadn't been paying enough attention. Still he ran, hoping that his size would be beneficial to him at this point. It might take longer for the substance to act on him than it had for the others.

A sudden new noise caught Bison's ears, and he glanced over his shoulder to find the source of it. At first, all he could see was the dust kicked up by the motorcyclists who were now circling the group again, laughing and whooping as they did so. The noise was quiet at first, but persistent, and became louder and louder until the men with the guns took notice. "Them's horse hooves," one whispered. All eyes turned towards the source of the sound, and sure enough, there were several horses racing towards them. It was a strange sight, but if they were here to help, they were gladly welcomed. Each figure on horseback appeared to be dressed in black fatigues, with black ponchos, tape pulled around the spots in which their gloves and boots overlapped their clothing, and gas masks pulled over their faces. This was worrisome, though only Bison and Guile were still conscious enough to see them. The implication that there actually was fallout in the area was not one they needed to add to their list of troubles.

"Fuck!" one of the deformed men screamed at the sight of the horses.

"It's the god damned arbiter!"

Chaos erupted around the displaced and mostly unconscious group as the mutated men began to scream in panic and leaped onto their bikes again. Suddenly, one of the bikes burst into flames, sending one of the men flying down the road. A ball of fire arced overhead, smashing into a retreating motorcycle. The man on it screamed, bike toppling to the ground on top of him. More flames rained from overhead, each smashing into one of the mutants. The men writhed and screamed in agony, while others still managed to escaped. The horses raced past the small group, some of the men gunning down the malicious bikers.

"We need to get out of here, now," Guile hissed weakly. There was a chance those men would turn around and come back for them next. At any rate, they needed to get out of what appeared to be a heavily irradiated area, judging from the way the horsemen were dressed. But Bison wondered how they were going to move three unconscious-possibly dying-bodies, when the same poison was slowly working its way through their own systems. But then, before they could really react, they were once again surrounded. Guile finally fell onto his back, panting heavily. He glanced up at the nearest horseman, automatic weapon held upright in his hand. "You aren't...going to eat us too...are you?" he managed to spit out between deep breaths.

"They're not incs or mutes," came the distorted voice through the filters of the mask.

Bison glanced over at Guile, who was now completely blacked out, lying motionless next to Sakura. His own vision was becoming distorted, and it was difficult for him to keep track of which of the men was speaking. His drug-addled brain was beginning to view them as some unholy, black creatures, enormous eyes leering hungrily at their prone and vulnerable forms. Vaguely, just before slipping into sleep, he heard one of them say, "We'll take them back." Finally, Bison gave up, and fell heavily onto the ground below.


	12. The Arbiter

Several intense, albeit brief, catastrophic earthquakes were reported all over the globe that morning. Maya had trouble believing it at first, and wouldn't have believed it at all if she hadn't been downtown when it happened. She would have rationalised the minor tremors felt out in the suburbs near her home as something like a low passing plane, or maybe nearby construction. Earthquakes of that magnitude simply didn't happen in the city. They didn't generally happen in a lot of the places in which they seemed to have happened that morning, which made it that much stranger. And that much more tragic, as many of the places which were struck didn't construct their building with that sort of natural disaster in mind. People had been buried in their homes, offices, stores, all over. The total death count was still climbing.

And that stupid gypsy had apparently predicted all of it.

Obviously, that wasn't _really _the case. It had to just be a coincidence. How could the woman have known? In an effort to humour her, Maya had let her talk about it. She went on about her tarot card readings, and then the CIA agent found it too ridiculous to continue listening to. Apparently the woman believed that the fabric of the world was unraveling, and that _dragons _had to stop it. Now, that wasn't even the end of the absurdities this woman had to spew out. She believed that there was some even higher power than the 'dragons', manipulating events on Earth in some sort of massive cosmic game of chess. Good versus evil, she'd said. Which was an utterly idiotic notion to Maya. Good and evil weren't tangible things, and they weren't as black and white as most people tried to make them out to be.

But Rose had insisted it to be true, even going so far as to claim that two of the dragons had been found already. But when Maya asked for proof, even offered to buy both of them plane tickets to anywhere in the world to go see them, the woman said she was unsure as to where they were. Awfully convenient, the red-head thought. So she finally ended the ludicrous conversation, and kicked Rose out. She didn't really resist. She went, but she begged Maya to keep her eyes open to what the world was trying to show everyone. Maya could only roll her eyes at the thought. A couple of bizarrely placed earthquakes weren't the end of the world. She was tired of the crazy theories, and just really hoped that tomorrow would end up being a better day.  
...

Sakura woke first. Other than a slight headache, she felt all right. In fact, she was feeling a little better than all right. She felt cleaner, and the atmosphere wasn't so warm and dry anymore. Her eyes fluttered open, and she found herself to be in what looked like a rather large hospital room. There were several other cots in the room with her, and while most were empty, her friends were laid out on the others. She noticed their clothes had changed, and she looked down at herself. She was no longer wearing her school uniform, but a grey tee shirt that didn't really fit her all that well and a pair of black fatigues. She felt a sudden rush of embarrassment at the thought of someone dressing her, and hoped that it was at least a woman who'd done it. Her friends were dressed in a similar simple manner. It was sort of weird, seeing Bison dressed so casually. She wished she had a camera. Now her thoughts returned to the place she was in, and she wondered how they had gotten here. The last thing she remembered was being shot at by those men on bikes... Had they really intended to eat them? Was she safe now? She looked around the room again, this time spotting the unfamiliar individual stretched out on a cot next to her. It was a man who looked to be in his thirties. He also looked terribly worn-out. The dust on his faded and frayed clothes made him look even more like a mess. He looked like he belonged to a poorly funded SWAT team, wearing a black uniform, with an armored vest, and black pants tucked into combat boots."Hi," she said warily, unsure as to whether he was a friend or an enemy.

"Hello," he responded quite simply.

"My name's Sakura," she said. "You're not...going to eat me, are you?" She couldn't help but ask. The anxiety was too much to take.

"I'm not particularly hungry right now," he replied. When he saw her eyes go wide, he smirked, though the smile didn't quite reach his tired blue eyes . "It's a joke."

"Oh. Well, it's hard to tell," she mumbled back, blushing a little. He was quite cute, minus the dirt and exhaustion, she thought, even if he was too old for her. She didn't want to make an idiot out of herself in front of him.

"How did you and your...friends get here?" he asked. She noticed he seemed to hesitate when he said friends, eyes settling on Bison. Did he know who Bison was? After all, the man did have quite a reputation. And how was she to answer the question he just asked, anyway? They'd been brought here by a dragon. That wouldn't go over well with the average person. Or worse, they might try to kidnap the poor starving dragon, and experiment on him, or something similar. Her thoughts briefly settled on the whereabouts of Water, as well. Last she had seen, the dragon had slithered up into Chun-Li's sleeve as she so often did for easy transportation. Had she run off when the bikers attacked?

"I don't know," she whispered, shrugging with a slight smile. She hoped that answer wouldn't anger him. It didn't seem to.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked.

"No...We were just walking through the city, when these men on bikes attacked us. It sounded like they were going to eat us," she explained quickly. "Then these other guys came out on horses! And there were fireballs and bullets everywhere and then...well...I passed out just when it started, so I'm still not really sure which side won."

"The one which you would be better off with having won," the man answered. She smiled back.

"Good to know!" she said happily. Then, this made her wonder how he knew that. Had he been one of those men on horseback...? "Who are you? You were out there, weren't you?"

He nodded, and replied, "I'm the arbiter. The one they were so frightened of."

"Why? You don't look that scary. You're too pretty to be scary," she blurted, and then quickly felt herself blushing again. Sometimes, she wished she would filter her thoughts before speaking them out loud.

But he simply smiled coyly at her. "Well, I'm not certain if that is an insult or a compliment. Either way," he said, and waved his gloved hand. He sat up now, legs dangling off the side of the cot.

Quickly in need of a subject change, Sakura asked, "What's an arbiter anyway?"

Before the man could answer her, a soft groan reached their ears, and both of them looked in the direction of the noise. Chun-Li's eyes fluttered open. Sakura sat up a little straighter so she could better see the Chinese woman's face on the other side of the room. She smiled brightly when their eyes met. "You're awake!" Sakura said happily. Chun-Li smiled back, and nodded, pushing herself up. "Meet the guy who saved us." She pointed at the arbiter, who looked a little tense now.

"Get away from him!" Chun-Li cried, jumping up from her cot. She felt a little dizzy at the sudden movement, but rushed over to a bewildered Sakura anyway.

"What do you mean? He helped us," Sakura asked, completely confused.

"Now that's a laugh," Chun-Li spat, pulling Sakura back towards the opposite side of the room, eyes on the man the entire time.

"I'm hurt," he sneered. Sakura was startled at the sudden change of tone. He'd been so charming just seconds before. "I go to all of this trouble...for you, _mi conejito_, and this is how you repay me?"

"You know him?" Sakura asked. He had seemed nice enough at first, but if Chun-Li didn't like him, there was probably a good reason.

"Know him? He tried to kill me," Chun-Li answered. "And he should be dead! How are you even here?"

"A god smiled upon me, I suppose. Or frowned. It really all depends on one's view of hell," he responded.

There was another noise in the room, and it was Ryu's turn to wake up. He was groggy at first, confused at his surroundings. Then he sat up, spotting Chun-Li and Sakura. He looked around, unsure as to why they looked so tense, and then spotted the reason. "Hey! I thought you were dead!" Ryu said.

Vega rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to answer this question over and over...So perhaps you should all wait for the other two to wake before asking me anything else."

"I don't really care about what you have to say," Chun-Li snapped. "You're going to let us go, now."

"You are free to leave at any time. I'd recommend bringing along dosimeters and Geiger counters, however, as it can get a bit deadly outside, depending upon where you wander. And don't expect me to chase off another batch of mutants for you, either," the blond replied irritably, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Please tell me we were shot up with hallucinogenic drugs," came Guile's voice as he awoke to the conflict. "Because I _really _don't want to have to deal with _you _on top of all the other crap that's happened today."

"You're all rather unappreciative," Vega said with a dramatic sigh. "I could have left you out there, you know."

"Maybe we'd have been better off," Chun-Li responded.

"Let's all calm down," Ryu said, holding his hands up. Once again, they were faced with one of their most hated enemies, and the resulting bickering was getting them nowhere. Earth was still back in that building, starving, and Water was missing as well, as far as he could tell. They had a planet to save and two more dragons to find. This wasn't the time for arguing and insults, no matter how justified they may have been.

"Yes, let's," Bison said, icy voice cutting through the room as he stared daggers at the Spaniard. Everyone went quiet, and Vega almost looked frightened of the man. The silence was awkward, then, finally, Bison said, "It's an interesting trick, Vega, disappearing completely, and so suddenly, and at such a convenient moment, as well. An interesting, frustrating little trick." The blond didn't say anything, instead looking away from Bison, eyes inspecting every other part of the room intently. It was quite a treat for all of the people in the room who hated him, seeing the usually pompous, pretentious man reduced to a nervous wreck by Bison's tone alone. "Mind telling us where we are?" Bison asked. "Where you ran away to?"

"It isn't quite a matter of where, but when," Vega mumbled.

"You've got to be kidding me," Guile muttered.

"We traveled through time?" Sakura cried excitedly. "That's _awesome_."

"Are you _sure _about that?" Ryu asked, confused. He knew Earth could take them to any place on the planet if he could see it. But could he really travel to any time as well?

"I've been here for five years," Vega spat angrily. "I _think _I know what year it is."

"Wait," Chun-Li said, holding up a hand. "Five years? It's only been three months since you died. Or, since I thought you died, anyway."

He shrugged. "You've simply gotten here later than I have."

"Come to think of it, you _do _look older," Chun-Li said thoughtfully. She knew from the records they had on him at Interpol that he was only a year older than her. When last she saw him, he was twenty-seven, but looked a little younger than that. Now, he definitely looked older, and if he really had been here for as long as he said, he was thirty-two. Vega's hand flew to his face almost instinctively at her statement, and he looked worried for a brief second. "Are those grey hairs?" She was enjoying herself now. It was just too easy.

"And fine lines and signs of aging?" Guile asked with a grin, quoting every cosmetic commercial he'd ever seen just to watch Vega squirm.

"Shut up," Vega snapped. "This is the last time I do any favours for any of you."

"You don't look that old," Sakura said quietly. She knew she shouldn't, but she felt a little bad for him. She tried to remind herself that he was one of the bad guys here, even if he had saved her and her friends' lives.

"We didn't _need _your help, anyway, psycho," Chun-Li muttered, glaring at him.

"It's so nice to see you are still in love with me, even after all of these years..." he said with sarcastic whimsy, clasping his hands in front of him.

"You make me want to vomit," she hissed back.

"From joy, I take it," Vega added with a nod.

"Shut your mouths, both of you," Bison snapped. Instantly, the room quieted down. "Your incessant bickering isn't going to get us anywhere. Keep your thoughts to yourselves, unless they are useful to us." The imposing man stood up now, approaching Vega. The blond's eyes darted upward, looking startled, and then quickly found somewhere else to look. Guile couldn't help but grin. This was just too much. It was like watching a child who knew he'd gotten into some serious trouble. "One-how did you get here? Two-_when _is here? Three-how do we get back?"

"The year is 2114," Vega said, eyes fixed on the opposite wall as he spoke. "How did I get here? I nearly died. You saw it. I didn't try to escape simply because things weren't working out so well anymore, you know. It wasn't abandonment, I simply-"

"_To the point," _Bison hissed through gritted teeth. Vega nodded in response, looking completely terrified.

"Perhaps your questions are best answered by someone else," Vega said, standing up suddenly. "You may all see him, I'm sure. I would be respectful of him, however. He is quite powerful."

"If a telepathic mutant is going to tell us to start a reactor, I'm completely through with all of you," Guile muttered, pushing himself off of his cot.

"Who is he?" Sakura asked as she hopped to her feet lightly.

"The one for whom I am an arbiter," Vega replied. "They call him Ignis, the people in the city, that is. I'm not certain who started that, but it's stuck, and he doesn't seem to mind it."

"Well, let's hurry up," Ryu said, getting a little anxious. He was very worried about the dragon they left out there where anyone could find him. If people were so starved they were willing to eat other people, they probably wouldn't have problems with trying a dragon out. "We need to get out of here as quickly as possible." Ryu was beginning to wonder why Earth had brought them here anyway. Presumably, the dragon would've realised that attempting to transport everyone to the future would take a huge toll on him. Was he really just that frightened of guns? And furthermore, he was pretty curious to learn how Vega had gotten here, too. At any rate, that answer would hopefully be answered by the one they were going to meet. And maybe they could find some food for Earth, so that they could continue their search back in their own time. Although, he wondered, if the planet was still here a hundred years later, didn't that count for something? They must've succeeded, he figured, somehow or another. With that positive thinking in mind, he followed the others out of the room, eager for answers.


	13. Rottendom

"What do you think of the earthquakes, Agent Maya?"

She hated it when the thing called her by her first name. She could deal with it, maybe, if it used her codename. But in using her real name like that, it insinuated some sort of closeness, like they were friends or colleagues. She was beginning to regret having ever been assigned to this case. Why couldn't the damned quakes have left this stupid machine smashed to bits under the rubble of a collapsed roof so she wouldn't have to deal with it anymore? "Something weird, but I'm sure the lab coats'll have something to say about all of it being a normal thing in a few days," she responded.

"Do you think there will be more earthquakes, Agent Maya?"

Groaning a little bit, she turned away from the computer screen to glance up at the enormous android. It was put to work, helping to clean up the messes caused by the tremors. Free help was free help, but she really wished they would've just paid somebody a little extra. "No idea," she responded.

"I think there will be many more earthquakes, Agent Maya. And fires, and floods, and gales."

She stopped, now staring at the machine. It was unnerving, not just the statement, but the certainty with which it said it. "Well...how would you know that?" she asked.

"Because that is how it is supposed to be when things go wrong, Agent Maya."

It was just a malfunctioning machine. She tried to keep telling herself that. It couldn't even do what it was designed to do-to fight, to absorb information learned by watching others and apply it to itself. Just a glorified action figure, and a broken one at that. It was just spouting off random nonsense, she was sure of it. But she couldn't quell the anxiety she felt once she heard it say those words.  
...

The entire city was located underground, save for a few huge, plexiglass domes which were placed on the surface. These domes, as Vega explained to them, were greenhouses, though none of them were doing as well as the people had hoped. Few things had grown in the infertile soil, and what little bits did weren't ripe enough to be eaten, and rarely ever lived to be so. The only animals they'd been able to gather and keep alive were goats, chickens, and horses, the latter of which few people were willing to consider a viable source of food, so long as the chickens kept laying eggs. Starvation was the norm here, they were beginning to realise. Even Vega, who, from the sounds of it, was in a position of power, looked underfed. He told them they lived off of very sharply rationed reserves-any canned, vacuum sealed foods anyone ever found went into a well-protected building. Dried fruits, nuts, beans, vegetables, a few hundred tins of fish, and even a few dozen MREs had been salvaged and brought back to the small town. They forced themselves to stretch the food as thin as possible. When they would find more-or if they would at all-was uncertain.

Bison found the ingenuity of these people to be quite impressive, in spite of how little they had to work with. The place was powered with solar panels placed on the surface and wired down to the flood lights below. Homes were also lit in this manner, and there was an entire room in one of the main buildings dedicated to seeking out survivors with the use of shortwave radios. There were bands of people scattered all over the country to communicate with, and the story seemed to be much the same everywhere. Vega told them all about just how ruined the planet was at this point. Oceans had risen, obliterating miles of coastlines and cities. The Atlantic Ocean now ended along the Appalachian Mountains, and the Pacific along the Rockies. Oceanic surges widened major rivers like the Mississippi, flooding parts of the plains and effectively separating the country in two. Such stories of disaster were told all over the world. As if this, combined with nuclear war, weren't enough to thin the population out, several strong earthquakes had ripped through multiple continents, killing thousands more. The fallout took care of a considerable number of people who wandered through it in search of survivors. It was, they all could agree on, a miracle that anyone had survived it all.

"How the hell does anybody manage to wake up in the morning?" Guile muttered, looking around at the shabby houses hastily built. They were very small-designed only with efficiency in mind. Things seemed pretty dismal here. He was still having trouble believing it was real every so often. But the smells and sights were all too vivid.

"How can you feed the animals but not the people?" Chun-Li asked as they wandered towards the back ends of the little city.

"The animals will eat things we can't-or won't, just yet. Dried grass, worms, for the chickens. All the oatmeal we've ever found went to the horses."

"Aren't _you _and those other guys the only ones who use them?" she questioned, crossing her arms. It seemed quite selfish to take a viable source of food from other people in order to feed a few animals instead. She knew that animals were important, but felt that human lives should come first.

"_Yes," _Vega answered irritably. "However, we use the horses to cover more ground when searching for more food. It might just all balance out in the end."

"Why don't you guys have motorcycles and trucks and stuff?" Sakura asked, remembering the initial appearance of the hunters.

"Those require fuels that we don't have," Vega replied with a shake of his head. "Those monsters cornered the market, and now what little we do have is in reserve, should the solar panels be damaged."

"How ironic that _you _are calling anybody else a monster," Chun-Li said with a sigh.

"Were I fed a bit better and had the energy, I'd cut out your tongue just to keep from ever having to hear your voice again," Vega snapped. He whined a bit when he felt the palm of a hand slap the back of his head.

"Chill out, loco bastardo," Guile said in a very American accent. Vega cringed in response.

"If only to keep you from butchering my language any further," he muttered.

"What do you have against Chun-Li anyway?" Sakura asked. Ryu sighed heavily. The girl was a little too naive and curious for her own good sometimes.

"He's jealous of people prettier than him," Guile replied, a lopsided grin on his face. Chun-Li crossed her arms and blushed slightly. Vega simply rolled his eyes in response.

"If you're all done gossiping," Bison said, "we could return our attention to the matter at hand."

"Good idea," Ryu said. Then, his eyes went wide for a brief second. "I can't _believe_ I just said that."

"We're nearly there," Vega said. The further the group went from the start of the town, the shoddier things looked. Most of the homes were empty, having not yet been filled with people. The path which served as the main road-only traversed by foot-was not so worn here. Next, the closeness of the walls increased dramatically, turning the huge expanse into nothing more than a tunnel. Guile and Chun-Li were both feeling uneasy. The idea of following Bison and Vega into such confined spaces was not an appealing one. But Ryu was a man on a mission, and nothing was going to deter him. They knew, also, that wherever he went, Sakura would faithfully follow, so they did the same. The tunnel was reinforced with beams, but still quite close. What little light there was receded away behind them, leaving them in the dark.

A deep rumbling noise could be heard up ahead, and Sakura began to feel fearful. "What is that?" she whispered. She couldn't help but begin to imagine the sort of things that could be producing that noise-as if some great beast had just woken from a deep sleep. It sounded like someone clearing their throat, but that someone had a very loud voice. She stuck close to Ryu, who showed no signs of intimidation. She inhaled deeply, and tried to emulate his peaceful exterior. Vega didn't seem fazed, and he wouldn't risk his life to save them only to lead them to somewhere dangerous. Or, she hoped, anyway. She didn't really know him well enough to make that sort of judgement.

"It's...singing," Chun-Li said, mildly confused. It had been difficult to hear at first, but it was most definitely a song of some sort. There weren't discernible words, but only some thunderous glossolalia, deep tones stretched into a mournful dirge. The song stopped abruptly as the group approached the end of the tunnel. It was dark, still, but they could feel the enormity of the cavern which they'd entered. It had been unchanged by humans, worn away only by the steady drip of water from above, creating curtains of rock between roof and floor. Something moved in the darkness, There was a deep inhalation, and then, a very commanding and strong voice echoed through the cavern. "And now, what have you brought me, little boy? Too many for my city, they'll find no quarter here."

"What the hell is that?" Guile whispered harshly, staring up towards the source of the voice. It was too dark to see well, but what little light there was barely reflected off two glinting eyes hovering over them all. There was more rustling as the creature moved slowly.

"They don't _want _to stay here," Vega explained.

"What is it then?" the creature snapped. "Why do you bother me?"

"They're from my time," he replied. "I thought, perhaps, you brought them here for some reason as well?"

"I've done no such thing."

Vega drew his brows together in confusion. How else could they have gotten here? He himself had only been able to come here by the will of the creature he now served. If it hadn't been the reason for the others to make it this far, what was? He turned towards Bison, and said, "How did you all get here then?"

"That's not important," Ryu said quickly before Bison could answer. He wasn't exactly sure what they were in the presence of, but he couldn't risk it wanting to harm Earth in some way. It seemed so hostile to begin with, and given its apparent camaraderie with Vega, it gave him even more reason to be cautious. "We just need some food, and we'll never bother you again."

There was deep laughter which reverberated through the cavern. It made them all a little uneasy. "I should only hope so. Unfortunately for you, I will offer no such aid to those who will simply...disappear. You want something from me, yet you'll do nothing to earn it?"

Ryu thought that was a pretty valid point, but was much too worried about Earth to sit around in this place and work for the food they needed. "It's imperative that our friend gets some food, or he'll die," Ryu said firmly. "Please, wouldn't you be willing to give us anything to take to him?"

"Death is one of the ways of the world, boy," the creature spat. "So then give him back to the earth. It's the least you could do for it, after all the rest of your kind has done."

"We have nothing to do with anything going on here!" Chun-Li protested, shaking her head.

"You have every bit to do with it," it snarled in response. "You've never changed, not since last I walked among you all. Pollute the rivers, tear down the forests, burn the plains, destroy the mountains! Murder each other in your endless battles to hold power over that which is not and never will be yours!" It grunted, and the room smelled of smoke suddenly. "This world was a gift for you all. We made it, gave you and billions of other creatures life, yet only man was the one which took so destructive a path."

"You're...one of the dragons, aren't you?" Ryu questioned cautiously. Of course he'd suspected since he realised it wasn't a human they were speaking to. But it was too difficult to see it well, and who knew what other sorts of monsters there could be in the world? Not to mention, its hostility made it quite different from Water and Earth.

"There are more of them?" Vega asked, plainly surprised. He'd never really considered the possibility, and felt foolish now because of it.

_You've not told him, then._

The blond quite literally jumped at the voice. Ryu had to admit, the first instance of receiving a telepathic message _was _a bit startling. It was still always amusing to see an enemy-especially one who prides themselves on being cool and collected-start like a frightened animal. Chun-Li laughed out loud without hesitation, but also felt a great relief at hearing the feminine voice of her companion Water. The dripping of a nearby stalagmite became quicker and quicker, and the puddle which it created quickly grew and shaped itself into a vague quadrupedal form. The aqueous body, when finally it resembled the shape of Water in great detail, solidified, and headed in the dark towards her brother, who growled lowly in his throat.

"What is there to tell?"

_Our duty,_ she replied irritably. _To fix what's gone wrong._

"It's beyond fixing," he snapped. "Leave it all to its rottendom. This experiment has failed, and its time to dump the petri dish."

_How could you say such a thing?_

The dragon growled low in his throat, and then, the cavern was suddenly alight with flames. Chun-Li and Sakura both cried out as the dragon spat fire directly at Water, who stood her ground. There was a hissing noise, and steam filled the cavern as the fire was put out upon impact with Water's aqueous form. She solidified again, completely unharmed, and looking decidedly perturbed. _You always were such a child!_

"And you, a nag!" Fire growled.

"It's eerie isn't it," Guile muttered, watching the dragons bicker like children. "It's _just like _Chun-Li and Vega."

"Well, fire and water aren't two substances that get along very well, I guess," Ryu said with a shrug, rubbing the back of his head.

"Mixing fire and water simply puts out the flames," Bison said. "I'd say a more apt comparison for the two of them is like mixing fire and _gasoline_."

"We're standing _right _here," Chun-Li said, planting a hand on her hip.

_Earth needs food, badly. Enough to return us to the time from which we came, _Water said to Fire, who snorted in response.

"When hasn't the great lout needed food? It's all he does, is eat!"

_We will simply steal it if you do not give it to us. From _your _reserves._

"_Repugnant _little snake," Fire hissed. His head whipped around, searching for his arbiter in the dark. "You, boy, get them their food, and take them to that fat oafish brother of mine. Give them only what he needs to leave here."

_You're coming with us, _Water stated simply. _It is your duty, and you can't turn your back on it._

"I've no desire to bother with fixing whatever mistakes they've made," Fire replied with a wave of his clawed hand.

"The entire planet could be destroyed," Ryu said. "Wouldn't that mean anything to you?"

The creature hesitated, but only for a second, before responding, "Yes, no more babysitting."

"Come on, Ryu," Chun-Li said quietly. "We should focus on helping Earth right now. We can worry about _him _later." She nodded towards the glaring dragon.

Ryu nodded in response. "You're right." He could feel the dragon's eyes on him as he turned away. He didn't like how flippant this creature was about the apparent end of the world. It didn't seem to care about everything being destroyed, and the way it blamed all people for the mistakes of a few wasn't exactly rational either. But they'd managed to convince him to give them some food, so maybe they could get him to come around in the end.

Vega led them back out of the cave, towards the city again. He kept glancing back over his shoulder at Water, who remained her normal size. Finally, he asked, "_What _are you, anyhow?"

_Fire is my brother_, she responded. _And you must be..._

"This is totally unbelievable," Chun-Li said, spreading her hands and shaking her head. "You're one of the four of us, aren't you?"

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about, so how could I answer you?" Vega replied, with a slight shake of his own head.

"There's four dragons, and four people who are best friends with the dragons, and they all have to save the world together," Sakura responded simply. Vega raised an eyebrow at her, and she blushed, feeling like she'd over-simplified things a bit. "Ryu can turn into a rock," she added hastily.

"And who are the other three?" Vega asked, humouring her.

"Chun-Li," she answered. "Who can't do anything magical yet. And..um, maybe you?"

"Maybe indeed," he responded with a mischievous little grin that made those who knew him a little nervous. Save for Bison, who knew him well enough _not _to worry.

_I have no doubts about that matter. Neither does my brother, it seems. He wouldn't have called you here, otherwise-there are few humans he'd willingly be seen in the company of._

"It says a lot about him that one of them is Vega," Chun-Li replied in a flat voice.

"You do realise, you are the ones who want something from _me,"_ the blond said to her. "So perhaps you should be a little more polite?"

"If you keep frowning, those wrinkles will become permanent, you know," the Chinese girl said, crossing her arms over her chest. He rolled his eyes in response, but she didn't miss it when his fingers traced over the corners of his mouth. She couldn't believe he really was that worried over his looks. She also couldn't believe, out of all the billions of people in the world, that _Vega _was shaping up to be one of the four people she would have to share this vastly important mission with. She watched him as they walked. He was the sort of person who managed to always look great in spite of anything. Even in the faded, dirty, ripped and worn black clothes that made him look like part of a special ops unit, he still looked as perfect as ever. Even every stray hair that hung from his braid seemed to be purposefully loosened. He was humouring Sakura some more, being surprisingly polite and only slightly teasing. She'd have thought him charming, if she didn't know better. And that was what was beginning to worry her-Sakura _didn't _know any better. Chun-Li could tell already that Ryu felt the same way, and that was a comforting thought. She found herself hoping, still, that Vega wasn't one of the people they were looking for.


	14. The Green is All Gone

"Keep close. I'm not chasing after you if they come for you." Vega's voice was eerily distorted through the filters of the gas mask, but the message was clear to all of them as they wandered out into the wasteland that had once been a major city. He hated the idea of babysitting, and while he knew that the people with him were at least competent in combat, there wasn't much they could do against the tranquillizers that the cannibals were so fond of. They would at least be given some warning-the sound of engines was quite distinct, especially when you knew it could mean death.

But maybe that noise didn't mean that to them. A breeze blew dust in his face, and he swiped at the stray grains of dirt on the lenses of his mask. The thing was like a second skin, more familiar now than the one which he wore so often...five years ago? A hundred years ago? He glanced back over his shoulder to make sure everyone was still following him. Their eyes were everywhere but forward, it seemed, taking in the devastating sight of the ruined city. Wrecked buildings, mangled vehicles, cracked, useless roads. This was nothing new to him, and he forgot momentarily that he had ever known something different. So rotten, brown, ugly, monotonous. What he wouldn't give to see something _green _again. He gritted his teeth, becoming a little frustrated with that attitude. No sense feeling sorry for himself now. It would simply hinder his performance. And he couldn't look less than perfect, especially not in front of his infuriating little rabbit.

"So you're uh, Toasty's little pal, huh, Vega?" Guile's sarcasm was clearly preserved, making it easy to detect who had spoken.

"And here I thought you'd never figure it out," Vega answered, not bothering to acknowledge the man by glancing back.

"If Ryu can turn into a rock," came Sakura's soft yet persistently cheery voice, "I wonder what you and Chun-Li and the missing person can do?" She climbed over a section of a collapsed building which was blocking the road, and jumped back down to ground level, her slightly over-sized poncho fluttering up briefly.

"It's all a matter of equivalences, I'm sure," Bison responded, scanning the area around them as they walked.

"You're telling me Chun-Li could turn into a lake then or what?" Guile asked. "And what does he get to be? A match?"

Vega snorted, irritated with the American's incessant sarcasm. How could he not believe what was going on around him? Ever the showman, he decided now would be the perfect time to demonstrate the extent of his capabilities. It was just a bonus that Chun-Li hadn't discovered her own yet, and he could rub it in her face. "Something like that," Vega said, focusing just as much as was necessary. That familiar tingling sensation crept up his fingers, and then, flames sparked out from the tips of the gloves, along his fingers, to his wrists. He saluted the major with a flaming hand, careful to keep it away from the horse he was leading, and Sakura cried out at the sight of him.

"Oh wow, that's _awesome!_"

"What were these dragons thinking when they decided to give the ruthless killer the power to create fire at will?" Chun-Li groaned.

"They were just so blinded by my beauty that they didn't think twice about it," he replied in as smug a voice as possible. While the others griped over how dangerous it was for someone like Vega to be pyrokinetic-save for Sakura, who wanted him to burn up something inanimate-Bison found himself quite pleased at the fact that he had an in with the group now. There was someone on _his _side, and they were even more lethal than before. It didn't even matter to him now that there was a chance that he would never be able to acquire the powers that the others exhibited-or would exhibit, in the case of Chun-Li. He had Vega, who would doubtlessly obey any command he gave to him. Finally, something had happened in his favour.

"He isn't too much further from here," Ryu said, getting a little impatient now. He knew it was silly, but he was anxious over Earth's safety. He didn't like the idea of those crazy guys on motorcycles finding the dragon and trying to eat him. He turned around, as if to make sure everyone were still in line. Vega was slightly ahead of him, leading the brown horse which was carrying what would hopefully be enough food for Earth to get them all back home. He wondered if Vega would be coming with them, and even more, if Fire would as well. He continued his survey, spotting Sakura not too far behind him, hopping her way over some more rubble. He really regretted dragging her into all of this. She should've been at home, enjoying her summer with her friends. Instead, she was stuck with him, traipsing through apocalyptic wastelands and avoiding being eaten or shot at.

He felt a little guilty over Guile, too. They'd pulled him into all of this without even asking. The older American expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation freely, and Ryu couldn't necessarily blame him. He kept close to Chun-Li most of the time, as he knew her the best out of all of them. They also seemed to share a little bit of cynicism over the predicament, and were able to find comfort in complaining to each other about it. Ryu didn't mind. He knew-he could feel it, on some level he didn't quite understand-that Chun-Li believed in and knew what she had to do. It was just a matter of finally accepting it, one-hundred percent. The two were walking side by side nearest the back, and Vega, at the lead, seemed to keep glancing back at them the most. Ryu smirked beneath his mask. He was _worried_. Probably not for their personal safety, but about having to fight off more of the cannibals. "Guile! Chun-Li!" Ryu cried back. "Catch up you two!" The two noticed their distance from the rest of the group, and jogged a little bit to catch up. He didn't like Vega, but he figured, if they had to be working together, it'd be best to keep things running smoothly, instead of fighting with him at every turn, like Chun-Li. Although, he couldn't exactly blame her. Vega _was _pretty reprehensible.

"Where are you from?" Ryu heard Sakura ask. She'd caught up with Vega, and was keeping pace alongside him now. He frowned, and tried to tell himself that she was just trying to be nice. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if she developed the same interest in Vega as she had in himself. And maybe, just maybe, beneath all of his calm and cool, he was just a little jealous.

"Barcelona," he replied.

"Oh wow I bet you go to the beach all of the time!" Sakura said.

"I hate to swim," Vega responded with a shake of his head. The horse snorted beside him. It was a strange sight than none of the others had ever witnessed before, save for perhaps in old photographs-the horse wore a mask of its own.

"What did you do there then?" she asked.

"I am..._was _a bull fighter. In your time," he answered.

"Bull fighting?" Sakura cried. "Isn't that terrifying? I'd be wayyyy too scared to get in a ring with a bull! And I've fought guys twice my size!"

"Sakura," Chun-Li said loudly. "Could you come back here with Guile and me?"

"Sure thing!" the girl replied. She looked up at Vega, and said, "It's been a nice chat!" With that, she was gone, jogging back to her friends. "What's up?" she asked looking at Chun-Li and Guile. Ryu had migrated back to them as well. She could differentiate between him and Guile pretty easily-the American was taller, and with a bulkier build. "Whoo! This mask is making my face sweat like crazy!"

"Speaking of crazy," Guile said, "you probably shouldn't talk to him." He nodded in Vega's direction. The Spaniard was now engaged in conversation with Bison, a fact which put them on guard. There was no telling what Bison could be planning, and they had to be cautious.

"Oh," Sakura said softly. "I just figured...we're going to have to work with him anyway, right? May as well make friends..."

"You don't have to be friends with the people you work with," Chun-Li said.

"Right," the teen answered back with a nod of her head.

"Here!" Ryu cried out suddenly, running ahead towards the old, steel-grey building with the hole blown through the front wall. "Earth's in here!" The Japanese man began to disappear into the building, when a sharp command made him hesitate.

"_Stop!"_ Vega shouted. "Don't go in there alone!" He jogged to catch up with Ryu, leaving the horse to do so. He caught Ryu by the sleeve, yanking him back and waving a finger at him. He pointed back to the direction they'd come from. "Back there, it's safe for you. You get the impression that it's the same way everywhere-_but it isn't!"_

Ryu sighed quietly, and glanced from Vega to his friends who were quickly approaching. Bison trailed behind, taking up the responsibility of leading the horse. "Okay," Ryu said, putting up his hands. "Can we get going now?"

"Of course," Vega responded, entering the dark building behind Ryu.

"Down the stairs," Ryu said, pointing to the flight which led to the basement storeroom. He glanced over at the horse, which had been incredibly hesitant about entering the building. "I don't think he's going to make it down there..."

"And Earth is too weak to make it up here," Sakura added..

"Easy enough," Guile said, unhooking one of the bags from the saddle. "Everybody grab one. The quicker we get out of here, the better." They all agreed, and they each took some food to bring down to the starving dragon. Guile thought they could have picked a better time to have this kind of problem on their hands, but it was just their luck that they ended up in the period where food seemed to be the most scarce. He could hear the heavy breaths of the bulky creature as they descended the staircase slowly and cautiously. Vega seemed pretty paranoid, apparently believing that something dangerous could jump out at them any second. But Guile figured, if the dragon was still alive down here, then they were probably pretty safe. Relatively speaking. He dumped his bag of food-grains, he thought it was-and stood up straight.

Ryu was at the dragon's side, opening the bags and pouring the food onto the floor. A few cuts of meat, some dried fruit, grains, and oats. It looked like enough for five or six full meals. He hoped it would be enough to refuel Earth long enough to get them back to their own time. "Here, we brought this for you," Ryu said, standing back to his feet.

"How many more are there?" Vega asked Bison quietly, staring at the big, almost saurian, beast. It didn't resemble Fire much at all, and if he'd seen it, he'd never think to call it a dragon. It looked much too bulky to fly, and didn't even have wings to begin with.

"Just one more," Bison responded.

"And what happens when it's found?" The Spaniard had been briefed on the 'life-and-death' matter, as the others had referred to it. He still wasn't quite sure how to feel about it, but given the compelling evidence of the three dragons, and his own unusual pyrokinetic capabilities, it wouldn't take much to convince him of the truth of the matter.

"That remains to be seen," the former general stated darkly.

"Is it enough food?" Guile asked, watching as the dragon pushed itself into a standing position. It had eaten every last speck of grain and oats, and looked a lot less tired than it had before. The curious light in its eyes was back, and it looked around the room, blinking its characteristic, dopey blinks. He wasn't sure if the thing could differentiate any of them very well-they were all wearing gas masks over his face, and he was a little surprised that it hadn't been scared of them because of it. But it zeroed in on the newcomer among them immediately. Guile-nor Sakura or Bison-could hear it when it voiced its curiosity.

_You are Fire's friend?_

Vega started again, unused to the telepathy. He still wasn't quite sure why the two others didn't simply speak like Fire did. It was a lot easier to get used to. "I suppose so."

_You smell funny._

Chun-Li's laughter echoed in the dark basement, and Vega crossed his arms. "Shut up," he snapped. "You'd smell too if you lived in a place where all fresh water is reserved for cooking and drinking. Bathing is a luxury nobody can afford."

"You haven't had a shower in _five years_?" Guile asked in genuine disbelief. He wasn't trying to rag on the guy-but at the same time, five years was a long time.

"There are other ways to get clean here," Vega responded defensively, crossing his arms.

_You smell like an illness._

This made Chun-Li laugh again, and she repeated the statement for Guile's benefit. "Swine flu," she said through her giggles.

Guile shook his head, laughing as he added, "Mad cow disease." This only caused the Chinese woman to laugh harder.

"Are you finished?" Vega snapped, waving a hand.

"We really should get out of here," Ryu said, trying to steer conversation in a more productive direction. He turned back to the dragon, and said, "You're able to walk all right?" He nodded in response. "Do you think you can get all of us back to our time? We'll be able to feed you better there."

_The world is very hurt,_ he said.

Ryu nodded solemnly. "Yeah...but...we're going to fix it, right? And we've found Fire. We're getting closer."

_Where is he? And Water?_

"We have to go back for them, and then we can leave," Ryu responded. It took a bit of cajoling, but finally, the group filed out of the room, and up the stairs. They weren't sure if the dragon would fit, but he barely managed to squeeze his way up and through the door. When he reached the surface, his distress was too strong for Ryu to block out.

_Where? Where are all the trees? _Earth ran forward briefly, standing at the threshold. He stared, plainly shocked, at the brown, dusty world around them. _The green and the life...It's all gone!_

"There was a war," Ryu explained gently. He wanted the dragon to stop being upset, but it was a difficult task. Nature meant a lot to the beast, and even seeing trees cut down to build a city caused him great pain. So Ryu could imagine that the aftermath of nuclear war would hit Earth hard. "People were fighting...and they hurt everything. By accident."

"It's a giant _infant_," Vega muttered irritably.

"He's older than the planet itself," Bison said sternly. "Locked away inside that mind are the secrets of creation. Try to show a _modicum _of respect, for once."

"Because you have so much respect for living things yourself," Chun-Li quipped, crossing her arms and turning away from the general.

"We need to keep moving people," Guile said, waving his hands. "Need I remind you, that little Korean chick and her militia are probably still in my home. And I _don't _want my wife and child coming home to that!"

"Guile's right," Ryu added with a nod. It was difficult to stay so determined and focused when the dragon's sorrow kept eating away at him. But he had to keep everyone going in the right direction. With the addition of Vega to their odd little party, this would become a much more difficult task. He and Chun-Li would just trash-talk each other until it eventually devolved into an awful fist-fight, ending with somebody being beaten within an inch of their life, given both their tempers. Guile would be happy to egg them on, most of the time, and Sakura was too timid, so that left the responsibility of focus up to him. He had to make sure things didn't fall apart before their work was done, and that possibility was looking more and more likely the longer they spent time together. "Earth, we're going to fix this. But right now, we have to get back to Water and-"

"_Shh,_" Vega hissed, holding up a hand. "You hear?"

For once, no one argued with him. Everyone stood quietly, listening for something. There was a deep rumbling in the distance, and then, one of the older buildings a few blocks away collapsed down into the derelict street. _It's all breaking... They really did it now... It's all breaking... _Earth muttered in their heads, repeating the words over and over.

"What is he talking about?" Chun-Li asked, just as confused as the rest of them. Ryu felt a new sort of anxiousness emanating from the wide-eyed dragon, and began to worry for their lives.

"We need to get back to Fire and Water, _now,_" Ryu stated. He jumped up onto Earth's back, hoping to remind the dragon of the urgency of this situation. "Sakura!" he cried, extending a hand for the younger girl. She took it quickly, leaping up onto the dragon's back with her mentor. She couldn't lie to herself. She noticed the sudden tension in the atmosphere, saw the wide-eyed, frightened stare of the dragon, and knew that something was about to go wrong. It wasn't until the earth beneath their feet began to shake violently that she knew what it was.

"Get away from the buildings," Bison commanded.

Another structure collapsed, sending a wave of dust up into the air. The cloud rushed at them, and Earth bolted. Ryu had barely enough time to turn around and shout for his friends before they were swallowed by the cloud of dust. He saw Guile trying to keep steady, he and Chun-Li supporting each other. Vega, in spite of his natural grace, was thrown right to the ground without much of a fight. Bison wasn't even touching the ground anymore, having opted for expending the necessary energy to keep himself levitated.

"Earth! We can't leave them!" Sakura cried.

There was a rush of air from above, a sudden downdraft, and the flapping of wings could just barely be made out above all of the shaking and rattling as the earth convulsed. Ryu glanced up, saw a red shadow against the sky, and its large wings expelled much of the dust from the area. It seemed to be searching for footing, but could find none that it deemed safe. Vega recognised the figure immediately, and felt some relief. The dragon seemed to want to try to help them, but refused to land for some reason or another. Instead, he heard Fire bellow, "Move! There's nothing beneath your feet!" Before any of them had the chance to contemplate what the statement meant, a deep, seemingly bottomless, fissure opened up in the road, chunks of asphalt and dirt and earth crumbling away into it. Chun-Li screamed as she felt the ground beneath her feet split, slipping down into the crevice. She tried to keep steady with Guile's support, but he too, was knocked on his back from the shaking. They clambered for handholds to try to pull themselves up again, but the ground was collapsing too quickly.

"Earth! We have to leave now!" Ryu shouted. He didn't know what else to do to save his friends. But would the dragon be able to complete the trip home? He looked back at his friends, desperation and helplessness apparent as the planet itself seemed to fall apart beneath them. Vega dropped first, going down with an impressive display as he tried to use the falling rock to vault himself back to the surface but ultimately failed. Guile had Chun-Li by the arm, and was trying to pull her back up, but the earth beneath his feet slipped, and suddenly, they were both careening into the darkness below. Their screams reached Ryu's and Sakura's ears just as everything beneath them collapsed.


	15. The Game

Maya crossed her arms in front of the door. The woman standing on the other side was either psychotic, or a genuine clairvoyant. She rolled her eyes before reaching for the handle and letting her in.

This was ridiculous. When the android began telling the CIA agent about the disasters awaiting the planet, it had all seemed a lot more real. The anxiety had been a lot more potent. Now, once again, as she looked this woman over in her pretty dress and long, silly purple hair, she couldn't help but wonder...What the hell was she thinking? The android was top secret, only kept around to lure out the little Korean girl and whatever faction she worked for. It was her job to keep the thing safe and unknown. But now she was inviting some woman who claimed to know the future in to talk to it? This was idiotic, pure and simple, and she was playing along. She should've been a little more ashamed of herself.

"You called?" the woman said as she stepped into the room, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I have some questions to ask you," Maya said nonchalantly. How could she spin this so she didn't sound so crazy, too? Then, it came to her in an instant. A perfectly reasonable excuse existed to get the woman to talk to the android and not make it seem like she believed any of the gypsy crap. Rose looked around the room, waiting patiently for the other woman to continue. "You say you know about Bison."

"Yes."

"Well, we've collected from the S.I.N. building an interesting specimen belonging to him," Maya said, leading Rose back out into the hall. It was late, and few people were here, which was advantageous. It was a big risk, bringing someone in to see the machine. But the damned thing was beginning to creep her out to the point that she didn't want to work with it anymore. "We were hoping, maybe you could shed some light on it." She swiped her card beside the door, unlocking the way into the area in which the android was kept. Rose followed. It spotted them immediately, something which was greatly unsettling to Maya. When last she left it, it was deactivated. Aside from her, few other people had access to this room. One of them must've come in to inspect it, but she couldn't imagine why they'd turn it on, or leave it on.

Upon noticing the two women entering the room, the android nodded his head, as if politely acknowledging them. "Hello Agent Maya. Hello Rose."

"It's certainly polite," Rose responded.

Maya shook her head, staring at the thing. "I never told it your name. Have you worked with these things before?"

"Only one such machine have I seen. He was called Seth. Upon becoming sentient, he planned to usurp Bison as commander of Shadaloo. He had not planned for Juri's intervention, however, and was destroyed," Rose explained. "They were to be host bodies for Bison, after his human one finally degenerated as a result of the power which he wields."

"Oh, I know about Seth," Maya responded with a nod. She remembered shutting that one down, permanently. This one though, was nothing like Seth, save for its apparent self-awareness. It was kinder, less cynical, less driven by a need to dominate. It didn't seem to care about power, or fighting, or to complete the objective which it was built for. And now, it apparently read minds, given its greeting to Rose. "How did he know your name?"

"Would you mind answering that question for us?" Rose asked, turning to the machine who listened, waiting patiently for his turn to speak.

"I must be familiar with all pieces of the game in order to play."

"What are you talking about?" Maya asked, brows furrowed in confusion. "What game?"

"Its scope is vast, and I can not expect you to understand. But in time, you will learn the rules, because you are both important pieces."

"Who are the main pieces?" Rose asked quickly. She had to be sure of what the machine meant before she began investing too much into it. Could this have been the answers she was waiting for?

"There are eight in all, and I have but six in my hand. My opponent struggles with me still for the last two..." He turned to Rose, brows quirking up slightly. "Do you know of what pieces I speak, Rose?"

The violet-haired woman nodded slowly, amazed at what stood before her. She was in the presence of an ancient divinity, and it had taken her far too long to realise it. She bowed her head to him, and said, "The dragons and the oath-takers."  


* * *

He blinked rapidly, trying, and failing, to replenish moisture in his dry, itching eyes. He wanted to rub them, but couldn't for the mask on his face. Blue eyes fluttered open, and, he realised that the air here felt much, much cooler. He was surprised he was even alive at all. And where had he fallen to? Was it safe to breathe? The ground beneath him was hard, and moist. He pushed himself up slowly, still disoriented from the fall. What had happened to the others, he wondered? Ryu, Sakura, and the green dragon had run off. To where, he didn't know. Chun-Li and Guile had fallen with him, he thought, but he couldn't be sure they landed anywhere near him and-

He screamed and jumped nearly out of his skin when he heard the noise, some horrible creature blaring at him from the dark, racing towards him! He rolled away as it blazed by him, and he expected it to turn around to come after him again, but it kept racing along... He drew his brows together in confusion as he watched it. It was a car. Not a monster. Just a car. He laughed in spite of himself. Where was he that people still drove cars? He knew some of the cannibals had them, but if that were the case, why hadn't they tied him up? He took in his surroundings finally, taking his eyes off of the receding vehicle, and realised he was on a road cutting through a small suburban neighbourhood. He stared in disbelief at the immaculate homes around him, the fences and gates, and most of all, the _green _lawns and trees. He whirled around, breathing a little faster. He reached for his mask, laughter bubbling up in his throat.

"Christ!" he heard Guile shout suddenly. "We could've done without the near death experience!"

"He panicked," Ryu said apologetically. Although, he couldn't really blame Earth for being frightened. That wasn't any normal earthquake-the planet itself seemed to come unraveled beneath their feet. It was definitely something worth panicking over. He was just happy that the dragon pulled himself together in time to bring them all back home. Ryu pulled off his sweaty mask, and inhaled deeply. It felt nice to breathe air that you knew was safe. It'd just rained, and was still cloudy, and he always loved the smell of the air after a shower. The grass was still wet, the roads still slick.

Chun-Li all but threw her mask off, panting as she sat up right. "Let's never do that again. Please?" She took a quick survey of the group, making sure everyone was in one piece. Everyone she cared about anyway. Her eye was caught by Vega, and she watched him pull his mask off slowly, revealing wide eyes and parted lips as the blond stared up at the cloudy sky. A few drops of rain began to fall again, and she saw his lips twitch into a smile. A genuine, non-crazy smile, and for a second, she thought-

No. How could she even consider anything so _disgusting! _Vega was the last person on the planet she wanted to attach any positive adjectives to, even if it was one so innocent as 'cute'. She quickly looked away from him, taking another head count to keep herself busy.

"It's _raining!_" Vega all but giggled, staring up at the sky.

"Well, I for one, am glad to hear you can use your words," Guile said, standing to his feet.

Vega shook his head, never taking his eyes off the clouds, as if in turning away from them, he would subvert them. He held out his hands, palms flat. He was thrilled with each little drop of water that landed in his gloves, on his bare face. He let out a laugh, and spread his arms, spinning in a circle. _"Las gotitas de la lluvia! Cling clang, cling cling clang! Caen, caen sin parar!"_

"What's that mean?" Sakura asked, looking up at Ryu, who shrugged.

"It means he's a few tomatoes short of a taco," Guile answered, shaking his head.

"We don't eat tacos in Spain, _gringo_," the blond replied, not even looking back at the soldier sitting in the grass.

This only served to confuse Sakura further. She shrugged. "Well, I guess if I hadn't seen rain in years, I'd be pretty happy to see it again, too." She leaped to her feet, spun in circles, and also shouted out, "Cling clang, cling cling clang!" She didn't really understand the rest of the words, but it was silly enough anyway. All that really mattered was the relief-they were home, and safely at that.

Bison sighed loudly, watching with slight embarrassment as Vega repeated the nursery rhyme and spun in a quick circle before dropping down onto the grass. It was difficult to believe, in that instant, that the blond had ever been a highly lethal individual, much less one of the most feared in Shadaloo.

"Oh man," Guile said. "How much would a Spanish tabloid pay me for footage of their beloved matador socialite dancing around and singing in the rain?"

"Not enough to compensate for the torture induced by the sight," Chun-Li muttered, getting up to her feet. She didn't feel Water in her sleeves like usual, and didn't see Earth either. She presumed Fire had been brought along as well, but he, too, was missing. "Where are the dragons?"

"Good question," Ryu said. The rain started to come down harder, and off in the distance, thunder rumbled menacingly. "I can't really feel Earth like I did before."

"You mean your telepathy?" Sakura asked. She glanced to Chun-Li, who shrugged, and then down at Vega. He seemed much more preoccupied with touching every blade of grass than the whereabouts of the creatures. She returned her eyes to Ryu, who nodded to her in response. He tried very hard to concentrate on the dragon, thinking maybe he'd just been distracted by the sudden rush of events. But no, he could no longer sense what the dragon was feeling, or thinking. It was as if he'd never been to begin with. And for a few seconds, he thought, maybe he'd made the entire thing up. But then he looked around at his companions, saw their attire, the gas masks discarded on the lawn, and knew there was no way he'd fabricated any of the events. He hadn't felt so lost since they started the journey. At least then, they'd had a clear goal-find the dragons. But now they were at square one again, and had no help from anyone who really knew what was going on. Bison had some idea, but it wasn't like he knew the locations of any of the dragons.

"Then what do we do next?" Chun-Li asked him.

"I guess..." Ryu began, unsure of what to tell her. He wanted to tell her that they should begin looking for their missing counterparts, but where would they even start? "I...don't know."

Chun-Li frowned, sensing Ryu's disappointment in himself. It wasn't his fault the dragons were gone. "Why don't we get some rest for a little while? Maybe eat some food, get a good night's sleep. Then we can start looking for them tomorrow. Who knows? They might even find us first," she said, trying to be reassuring and positive. He always had been for her, and she felt it was time to start returning the favour.

"Well," Guile said, crossing his arms. "We landed in my front yard. So I guess that means you guys will be bumming another meal off of me, huh?" He meant it in good humour, of course-his friends were always welcome in his home. The other two, however... He could care less about where they ended up.

"Alright!" Sakura beamed, jumping to her feet immediately. "I'm so hungry, I could eat an entire cow!"

Guile grinned, but Ryu said, "Don't laugh. She can put away quite a few hamburgers."

"Then I suppose we'll reconvene when you've located the dragons?" Bison said, never for a second presuming that he'd be invited along. He didn't particularly care. He simply wanted to see this operation run smoothly, and if he could make it happen quicker, then he would. He still wanted to try to replicate their powers, in the end, and couldn't lose track of them. And with Vega now being one of the four, there would always be a way for him to know what was going on. So even if they shut the former dictator out, he'd always have his way of getting information.

"We don't really need your help," Chun-Li said coldly. It was unnerving, having Bison around. The one man she wanted locked up more than any other in the world had been within a few feet of her in the past few days, but she didn't exactly have the time or ability to take him in now. She was too focused on everything else going on, and he hadn't done anything to harm them just yet. She knew it was coming-there was no way Bison would ever be so helpful if he didn't have something to gain from it. It was all a big, nerve-wracking waiting game.

"Vega stays with us," Ryu said suddenly. At the mention of his name, the blond perked up, glancing at the others from his spot in the grass.

"What?" Chun-Li, Guile, Vega, and Bison all said in unison in a varying degree of tones.

"You don't get to invite that psycho into my house," Guile said sternly.

"He'll kill us in our sleep!" Chun-Li cried.

"Don't flatter yourself, _coneja_."

"Calm down," Ryu said, putting his hands up and trying to keep the peace. He knew he'd cause a stir with that statement, so the reactions were no surprise to him. "Chun-Li, we're all in this together, as much as we don't really want to be," he said firmly. "Vega's on our side this time. If any of us die, the planet doesn't seem to stand a chance, if I'm understanding the situation. And if he really loves himself so much as he says, then I don't think he'd want to take that course of action. Right, Vega?"

"I suppose having no planet on which to live would be a troubling inconvenience at best..." Vega muttered, rolling onto his back and crossing his arms.

"So we need to work on this," Ryu continued. "We have to work together now, and as unappealing as it sounds to have him on our team, it's what's necessary for us to survive-_as a race._ Our differences aren't petty, and I won't ask you to try to overcome them. But for now, we need to set them aside and focus on fixing this problem."

They were all quiet for a minute, considering Ryu's words. Vega didn't care much, one way or the other. Oh, truly, he detested the Chinese woman, and the American wasn't exactly his favourite person. He didn't really feel strongly one way or the other about Ryu. He was admirable for his sense of honour, his determination, and his strength. And he wasn't necessarily ugly-though not nearly what one would call beautiful. That last factor was the only thing giving Chun-Li a pass, anyway. He rolled his eyes as he thought, and sighed.

Chun-Li didn't really want to admit that Ryu was right. Vega disgusted her on a primal level, and she couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't hurt him involuntarily. But Ryu had made a valid point, after all-they had to work together, one way or the other, or else they were going to fail. Ultimately, though, the decision fell to Guile. It was his home.

The man in question sighed, the shook his head with a roll of his eyes. "Can't believe I'm letting that crazy bastard into my house," he muttered. He threw his hands up into the air. "Fine. But only because my family isn't here right now. And only this one single night. Get it?"

"Soo..." Sakura said, piping up for the first time in a while. "It's raining a lot now..." She'd crossed her arms in some futile effort to warm herself up. "Can we go in now?"

Guile smirked. "Yeah. Why not?"


	16. Violation of Protocol

This was insane. It was a direct violation of protocol. But she didn't seem to be doing anything to stop it from happening, which may have been the most worrying part of the whole debacle. "Get in," she said, nodding to the machine and to Rose. The violet-haired woman sat up front next to Maya, while the machine sat patiently in the back. It always seemed so placid and collected. Everything about it was unnerving, even more so now given the conversation that had taken place in the past hour or so. She couldn't say she was a believer. This whole 'game' concept, it was a little ridiculous. But she couldn't deny that something bizarre was going on with this machine, and she wanted to get down to the bottom of it. "Where are we going?" she asked, starting the car. It was freezing outside, in spite of the season, and she immediately turned the heat on.

The machine responded with an address, and Maya entered it into the GPS. It was a little over four hours until they would get to the destination. She couldn't tell where it was, exactly. It looked like a neighbourhood, given the layout of the surrounding roads and multiple dead ends. Could the machine be leading them into a trap? Was it some convoluted way to get back to Bison or into the hands of Shadaloo? "I hope you trust this thing," Maya muttered to Rose.

"If he can not be trusted, then nothing in this world can," she responded with shake of her head.

"What do we have to do at this place?" Maya asked, looking at the machine in her rear-view mirror. It was busy watching the buildings fly by as she drove.

"The ingenuity of the human never ceases to amaze me," it responded, seeming to ignore her entirely, instead turning his attention to the buildings passing by outside. If Maya hadn't known any better, she would've thought the machine actually seemed to be admiring the sights.

She sighed in response. It was a bit annoying, being told to get somewhere in a rush but having no idea why. She glanced over at Rose. "I need to know. Is this going to get dangerous?"

"'Get'?" Rose echoed, raising an eyebrow. "It already is."

* * *

"Ahhh, you have so much delicious-looking food," Sakura said, peeking into Guile's fridge. "What can we eat?"

"Anything's fine, I guess," he said, pulling up a seat at his kitchen table. The newspaper from the previous morning was still laying in its green plastic bag, never having been read. There had even still been a full pot of coffee in the machine before he poured it out to make another. It was still so cold outside, even if it was supposed to be the hottest part of the summer, and he always enjoyed making a warm drink to make himself feel a little better. He couldn't stand cold weather. He didn't have any particular foods he wanted to declare as off-limits to his guests. It would've made him a pretty crappy host, anyway.

Chun-Li pulled up a seat next to Guile, watching with an amused smile as Sakura delightedly began picking through the fridge, tossing various food items onto the counter. Ryu was beside the girl, looking over the things she was pulling out. He tried to stay away from junk food, but he hadn't eaten in quite a while, and his stomach was beginning to get the better of him. He picked up the pudding cups she'd set aside, looking over the nutrition label. There wasn't _that _much sugar in it... Sakura, meanwhile, outlined her meal plans to whoever cared to listen. "...going to make a _monster _sandwich, and-oh, you have three different kinds of deli meat! I'll cut up a tomato if that's okay and-great cheese selection!"

Guile raised an eyebrow at the pile of food quickly appearing on his countertop, and wondered if Ryu's previous statement about the tiny girl's appetite was true. He hoped it was, at least if she made a sandwich as big as she was planning. He looked over at Chun-Li. "Don't wait for an invitation. You better get what you want quick before the black hole devours it over there," he said in good humour, jerking a thumb in Sakura's direction.

Chun-Li grinned. "I think I'll wait until she's finished. She seems pretty hungry."

Guile nodded, and looked back over. Ryu had found his way to the food well enough, digging out a spoon from the utensil drawer to eat his pudding with, and that just left Vega. He glanced at the Spaniard in the black ops get-up, who looked quite displaced in such a typical suburban home. He looked lost as well, almost awkward. Guile grinned at that. The idea of someone as pretentious and suave as Vega having no idea what to do with himself was fairly amusing. Guile knew he should revel in it while he could, before the blond got too comfortable with his surroundings and started mouthing off again. He seemed to be staring at the bowl of fruit on the countertop from his place in the other room. "You know, habanero, you can eat something too," Guile said, leaning back. He didn't like that he had to feed the bastard, but Ryu wanted him here, apparently. And he wouldn't be useful to anybody if he starved.

Vega's head snapped up, glancing over at Guile irritably and then back at the bowl of fruit. He took a step forward, leaned onto the counter, and tapped one of the fruits tentatively, as if it were going to disappear. He picked up the green apple, and stared at it. "This is the first piece of fruit I've seen in a long time." He pressed it to his lips and inhaled. It was cold, and smelled just like he remembered they did. "I never thought I'd see unprocessed food again."

"Quit being melodramatic and just eat the damn thing," Guile said. The other man rolled his eyes, producing a knife from one of the holsters at his side. The action reminded Guile that he'd need to disarm that particular bomb before anybody went to sleep. He didn't plan on getting much rest, anyway. Not with Vega in his house. He watched cautiously as the man started slicing the apple in half, then again into quarters, sticking half in a pouch at his side. Guile raised an eyebrow, watching him do this with a red apple, and then another green one. "The hell are you doing? Its going to oxidize and get gross if you don't eat it now."

"When can I be sure I'll have this sort of food again?" Vega said as if it were common sense. "It'll last a little while longer, so I'll eat the rest then."

"You can just go to the grocery store," Sakura said, finally placing her plate of food-a decent sized sandwich, red grapes, potato chips, and now an orange-onto the counter, watching as Vega started slicing up another piece of fruit. He slowed down as he considered her words, looking as if he'd just come to a major realisation, and then looked decidedly embarrassed, digging the fruit back out of the pocket and setting it back on the countertop.

"Yeah..." Ryu agreed, leaning against the other side of the counter, picking a few of the grapes off of Sakura's plate. "You don't really need to hoard your food. It's weird."

"Speaking of weird, we need some new clothes too," Sakura said around a mouthful of food. "These don't even fit me, and well, they're kind of ugly, too."

"Definitely," Chun-Li said with a nod. "I'd really prefer to not go out dressed like this." She sighed. "I guess I'll have to buy new clothes; it'd be cheaper than going all the way back home, after all." She pressed her lips together, a little irritated. She really liked the jacket she'd been wearing when they dropped into that awful wasteland. No doubt it was lost forever, now.

"I can take you guys to get some better clothes tomorrow morning, I guess," Guile said. He glanced over each of the people in his house. Ryu, Sakura, and Chun-Li all wore ragged, ill-fitting shirts and pants, and really, they were ugly. Even to Guile, who generally could care less about what his clothes looked like. But they looked like peasants out of a history textbook. Then he looked at Vega again, and remembered he wasn't exactly dressed casually either. "You especially can't go out dressed like that. You'll draw all kinds of attention, especially if you go down into the subway or an airport or something."

"I've worn this for the past five years," Vega replied indignantly. Sure, it wasn't the most fashionable thing, but spending all of that time in a nuclear wasteland in which your life was constantly at risk made him realise that the fashionable choice wasn't necessarily always the best one. He'd grown to feel comfortable in the combat boots and black fatigues, the armored vest, the holsters strapped around his thighs usually weighted down with some dried food and a weapon, the dosimeter and Geiger counter dangling from a clip on a belt loop beside a canteen, and a gas mask secured to his face. He couldn't imagine going anywhere without these things. It just wouldn't feel safe. He could become stranded in a high radiation zone. No one would come for him. He needed the rations he kept. He could be hunted down by cannibals. The vest did a good job at deterring bullets and darts. And, even in the city, there could be attacks. Bands of extremists faithful to their old religions had made attempts on his life multiple times, declaring him to be Lucifer himself, wielding the flames of Hell. 'Safe' was not, and had not been, reality for a long time.

"He's right," Ryu said with a nod. "If you go out like that, people are going to notice."

"And get nervous. Although, they should be, if you're around," Chun-Li added.

"Do I make you nervous, Agent Xiang?" Vega said dangerously, glaring at her through dirty blond bangs.

"Just repulsed," she whispered back.

"You two are like children," Ryu muttered. He popped another grape into his mouth. "We need to work on your relationship."

"There is no relationship," the two spat back in unison.

Sakura giggled, and jumped down from her chair, empty plate in hand. "You know how when you're a kid, and a boy likes you and shows it by picking on you?" she asked. No one really answered, but she wasn't waiting for a response anyway. "That's what you guys remind me of."

"Sakura, that's the most disturbing thing," Guile stated.

"Agreed," Chun-Li said quickly.

"Thirded," Vega nodded.

"And fourthed," Ryu put in.

The teen shrugged still smiling a little. "Have it your way." She made her way to the sink, and began to rinse off the plate she'd been using. Vega stared, quickly forgetting the previous conversation and blurted out, "Water!"

"Yes. We have that here," Guile said, nodding slowly and speaking as if he were dealing with a slow child.

Vega narrowed his eyes, ready to make a sarcastic remark. But then, his eyes lit up, and again, he forgot the offending statement upon realising another possibility. "You have a shower."

"Spared no expense," the blond replied, crossing his arms.

"Perhaps-"

"Just go," Guile said, waving his hand. The other blond disappeared without another word. When Guile heard the bathroom door close, he turned back towards the others. "I don't know how much I like him sticking around here, Ryu."

"We need him," the Japanese man said firmly. "I understand your apprehension, but that's what it comes down to, as unfortunate as it is."

"I don't see how that's reason enough to keep him here while we sleep, though," Chun-Li responded.

"If there were sudden developments which related to our mission, we'd need him," Ryu answered simply. "Plus...his ability is pretty useful. If someone were to attack us, between me being practically impervious, and him being relentlessly destructive, no one would be able to touch us."

Chun-Li frowned, plainly irritated. Why hadn't she been able to manifest her own powers yet? It was especially frustrating, watching that arrogant Spaniard strut around with flames shooting out of his fingers. And he _knew_ it ground her nerves that she was lacking in that area. It wasn't that she hadn't been trying. She just didn't know how to make it actually happen. "The relentlessly destructive part is what's so worrying to begin with," Chun-Li said.

"He's on our side now, whether he likes it or not," Ryu said with a shrug. "I don't think he wants the world to be destroyed, anyway."

"How do you guys even know that's what's going to happen if we don't cooperate with those dragons?" Guile asked. He felt a little silly every time he used the word 'dragons' but he supposed it was the most apt. He was also surprised that none of them had considered so far that maybe nothing at all would go wrong if they didn't help out.

"You saw where we just came from, Guile," Chun-Li said, waving towards the bathroom towards the one they'd met in that hellish wasteland. "Maybe that is what we're trying to prevent."

"If a dragon told me to save the world, I'd believe him when he said it needed saving," Sakura agreed with a nod.

"You're breaking my balls guys," the American muttered, drawing a hand over his face. "If he burns down my house, Ryu, I swear to God..."

Ryu cracked a grin. "It's not too late for homeowner's insurance."

Guile glared back. "Very funny."

Sleeping arrangements were worked out pretty soon after eating. Guile assigned Chun-Li and Sakura to the spare room upstairs, and Ryu to the one downstairs. When Vega finally made his way out of the shower-which, Guile noted irritably, had been nearly half an hour-he informed the blond that he'd be sleeping on the couch. His protests were only mild, as he was happy enough that he was back in the present that he could really care less where he slept. He only really argued about the couch to give the American a hard time, at this point.

"So tomorrow, we'll look for the dragons again?" Sakura asked. She was ready to get some sleep. The past few days had been very exciting, with little chance to rest comfortably, and she could practically hear the bed upstairs calling her name.

"And some new clothes," Chun-Li muttered, pulling on the over-sized shirt she'd been assigned. She couldn't wait to get out of them and back into something nicer.

"So, a lot to look forward to, fantastic," Guile said, opening the closet door. He retrieved a blanket, and tossed it at Vega, who wasn't paying attention, instead focused on picking dirt out from under his fingernails. He yelped when it hit him, scrambling to get it off of his head. Upon realising what it was, he looked down at it and frowned.

"You make the most interesting noises," Chun-Li commented, tilting her head slightly. "Somewhere between a cat being skinned and a man being castrated."

"A noise I'm sure you're quite familiar with, hm?" the man replied, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Gross, gross!" Sakura cried, covering her ears. "I'm going to sleep before this conversation gets any weirder!" She disappeared up the stairs, then, upon reaching the top, looked back down at everybody. "Good night!"

"If you guys need anything, don't worry about waking me up," Guile said. Then he paused, glanced at Vega, and said, "Except you. That won't end well."

"So late night bouts of passion are out of the question?" Vega responded, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm going to vomit," Chun-Li groaned. Ryu blushed, happy that Sakura had already disappeared upstairs.

"The world could end any time now, _mi coneja_," Vega purred. "Why worry over inhibitions?"

"You are _this_ close to sleeping on the porch like a dog," Guile snapped. Vega merely cackled in response, rolling backwards over the couch and landing on his back. Guile sighed heavily, looking at Chun-Li. "These dragons of yours sure know how to pick 'em."

"Don't even get me started," she muttered in response, following the man up the stairs. That left Ryu to himself. He glanced over towards the couch, hearing rustling sounds as Vega set his boots, gloves, mask, vest, and holsters on the floor beside him.

"Good night, Vega," Ryu said, trying to be friendly for once. It couldn't hurt, not if they all had to work together. The blond seemed startled, having assumed that the Japanese man had already gone to his bedroom. For a second, he seemed unsure of how to respond, or if he should at all.

"Perhaps," he answered. Ryu frowned a little in response, but ultimately, didn't take it personally. With that, he went back into the guest bedroom, and welcomed the first good night's sleep in a while.


	17. Dreams

She saw her father. Very often, when she dreamed, she saw him. It left her feeling drained and awful when she woke back up, but for once, she didn't see him die, as she had so many nights before. That was the one upshot of the dream, so far. He was leading her through unfamiliar territory-patchy woods through which a small river ran noisily over rocks. The air was tense, and he seemed to be waiting for her to speak."Why can't I do it?" she asked finally, looking up at him. "Why can't I do what I'm supposed to do?"

"You're still holding back," he responded, seeming to know exactly what she was talking about in spite of the fact that she'd never elabourated. "You have to believe in what you're doing." He lead her along, walking with her by the river. And suddenly, he was no longer her father, but Bison, arms crossed behind his back, jet black hair tossled by a slight breeze. "You will have to trust your enemies in order to finish this, for a time," he said. The river beside them froze in unison with her shock. Bison turned around to face her, a serious expression on his face. "It will be difficult," he said. Again, the figure changed, but this time, into Guile.. "But then, no one said this would be easy," he said.

"I never volunteered for this! None of us did!" Chun-Li cried. "You can't just pick a few people out of billions to help fix the world and expect them to be okay with it!"

And then, in an instant, it wasn't her friend anymore. The speed with which he attacked her threw her off, and left her pinned beneath him on the ice. His lips were just beside her ear, and his breath was warm on her neck. "No one ever asks for this, _coneja_," he whispered harshly. She struggled against him, repulsed by his proximity. "We can not be selfish now, can we? Or do you want..." He pressed the cold steel of the claws against her throat. "To fail?"

"_No!" _she shrieked, and the ice shattered. The freezing cold water rushed to meet them and she seemed to sink forever. The river was impossibly deep, and Vega was gone. She tried to swim back to the surface, but the water was too cold, and seemed to be pulling her deeper. It hurt to even move. She twisted herself around, forcing herself to face upwards. Unintelligible voices reached her ears as she finally hit the bottom of this bizarre stream. She pushed herself up, and felt more than saw that there were people around her.

"You will always have help." She looked up at the man who had spoken, seeing Ryu extending a hand to her. She did a double-take upon realising that it wasn't exactly her friend. He looked almost identical to Ryu, save for the longer hair pulled back atop his head, and the red gi was replaced by a deep green kimono and brown hakama. A katana hung at his side. She drew her brows together. Ryu never used weapons. And stranger still, the water didn't seem to have any effect on him. He wasn't wet, his hair and clothing didn't move with the gentle current. His voice was clear in spite of the medium it travelled through.

"Who-" she tried to ask, but all that escaped was a muffled noise and bubbles of air.

"It will be difficult." Now her head snapped back to her own twin, who watched her calmly. She wore an elabourate blue and green hanfu dress, her hair long and bound in several loose buns, forming ebony loops reaching just to her shoulders, all held together by ribbons in shades matching the dress. It was more bizarre than seeing the Ryu clone. It was as if she were looking in a mirror. But knowing that one wasn't there just made seeing this woman even more surreal.

"You will be faced with danger at every turn." And now her attention was drawn to the third. This one was Vega's twin, but again, dressed in archaic clothing-a red tunic, a scabbard at his back, brown pants and boots reaching the calves. His hair wasn't braided-the first time she'd ever seen it that way. His bangs were pulled back, the rest left to hang down to his shoulders. And there was some different quality about him that was difficult to place. This version of Vega didn't look so pompous, or malicious. He looked like a kind and warm person.

"But success is the only option." Her breath ran out at the sound of the voice. She searched for the last person, the one she knew who was needed to complete their quartet, but she couldn't see well enough anymore. She tried to focus, but could barely see the blurry shape in the water.

"Come back!" she cried with her last breath. But the four of them were gone, as if they'd never been there to begin with. She tried again to swim to the surface, desperate for air. Her lungs began to burn, and she thought she would die here at the bottom of this freezing ocean.

But then, she sat up, gasping as if her life depended on it. She shivered, putting a hand to her chest as she tried to regulate her breathing The dream quickly began to fade, as they so often did, but the feeling of unease did not. She concentrated, trying hard to remember that last face she'd caught just the slightest glimpse of, the sound of the voice, but it was fading fast. She sighed, irritated with herself. But then, she thought, it was just a dream. How could she be so certain that whoever she could've conjured to fill the roll of Air's companion would actually be the right person? It was all just a dream. She glanced over at the other bed on the opposite side of the room, and Sakura slept soundly. The clock on the night stand said six twenty three. She slid out of bed, feeling too anxious to sleep. So, silently, she crept out of the room, closing the door behind her. The halls were colder than the rooms, and she crossed her arms for a little more warmth.

Downstairs, everything was still silent. She walked into the living room, glancing down at the blond man sleeping on the couch. Maybe she was just paranoid, but she had to make sure that he was still there. She turned away, heading for the kitchen. Retrieving a cup from the cabinet, she filled it less than half way with water, and drank it slowly. What a time to be losing sleep. She sighed quietly, closing her eyes. She opened them again with a start, hearing a sudden, short cry in the living room. Creeping towards the threshold between the two rooms, she peeked around the corner, watching as Vega sat up, eyes wide with confusion and fear. It was the most vulnerable she'd ever seen him. Even when she'd kicked him out of the window of her apartment, he'd looked more sure of himself. She wished, for more than just a second, that she was here to arrest him. It would be so easy, in his split-second state of confusion, to subdue him. But then she remembered, as sickening as the thought was, that they needed him. He looked around the room, still disoriented, and now, groggy. She heard him mutter something in Spanish, and then, he stood up, which caused her to panic for a second. Would he come into the kitchen? She didn't want to be alone with him in here-it would be too easy for him to corner her. So she made her move quickly, exiting the kitchen with her glass in tow.

He didn't miss her, although, she had been wrong in her thought that he would go into the same room as her. He'd approached the back door of the house, looking outside through the glass at the dark backyard. "Do you feel it?" he whispered.

Her brows drew together in confusion. "Feel what?"

He looked from the yard to her, concerned. "There's something tugging-"

The sound of shattering glass and screeching filled the tense silence of the house, and Vega was shoved to the ground by some enormous, winged creature. Chun-Li gasped, and backed away slightly. Fighting human beings was one thing. But this thing looked like a monster. "Ryu, Guile!" she shouted, hoping they'd wake up and help. The room lit up for a brief second as Vega tossed a ball of fire right at the creature. It shrieked, flew to the opposite end of the room, but ultimately seemed unharmed.

"The knife!" Vega shouted at Chun-Li. She stared at him, shaking her head in confusion. "By the couch! It-" He was interrupted when the bird-thing slammed into him again. He gasped for air, the flames on his arms flickering out. She leaped over the couch, the sudden movement catching the monster's attention. She tossed away Vega's vest, his shirt, and then found the holster, pulling out the blade just in time to swipe it at the bird dangerously. She caught it on its shoulder, and it raked a talon forward in retaliation. She was, for once, grateful for the ugly, oversized clothing they'd been given in the future-the claw scratched through the back of her shirt, just barely grazing her actual skin. It kept flying past her, and she glanced back to keep track of its movement, when suddenly, it was thrown back by a heavy stone fist.

"Need some help?" Ryu asked. Chun-Li felt relieved, happy that someone else was awake now. The bird rolled back onto its feet, lifting itself to the air effortlessly with another shriek. From the stairs, Sakura and Guile raced into the room.

"Whoa, what is _that?_" Sakura cried.

It swooped in again, this time claws aimed at Vega. He caught it by its legs, struggling with the unnaturally strong bird.

"Get out of here Sakura," Ryu warned.

"Ryu, I can fight!" the girl protested.

"_Jesus Christ!_" Vega shouted as he was suddenly seized by the wrists and pulled up into the air with the bird, then finally tossed at Guile and Sakura by the bird like a rag doll. Sakura jumped back, and Guile side-stepped, letting the Spaniard hit the ground hard. "_Gracias_, _pendejo," _Vega growled as he pushed himself up.

"Sakura, go, this thing is too strong," Chun-Li instructed. After the display of the creature's power, Sakura wasn't going to argue anymore. She raced back up the stairs, then heard Ryu cry out her name. Glancing backwards at the sound, she turned back around in time to see the bird flying right for her. Before she could even react, it was already in her face, grabbing her with sharp claws by the shoulders and slamming her into the wall. She cried out in surprise, doing anything she could to get out of its grip.

Ryu raced off after her, taking the stairs two at a time to get to her before the thing dragged her way. He reverted back to his natural self, not wanting to risk seriously injuring Sakura, and tackled both her and the bird to the ground. There was shrieking and screaming, and Ryu wrenched the bird's claws from Sakura's shoulders as fast as he could. He picked her up, and trying to figure out where the safest place for his younger friend was. The bird was ready to follow, when a ball of fire slammed into its back. It wheeled back around, zeroing in on the one who had thrown it.

"Ahh, don't _do _that," Guile groaned to Vega. He was worried for his friends, of course. But he was also worried about his home being burned down. The fire didn't seem to have too much of an effect on the bird, anyway.

The bird swooped down, and Chun-Li took this as an opportunity to attack. Taking the knife by the blade, she slung it at the descending monster The creature shrieked when the blade sank into its back, but the wound did not halt its descent. The three fighters jumped out of the way when it finally reached them, and Guile reacted quickly, kicking hard. The bird slammed into the wall, and then, two heavy stone feet slammed down onto each of its wings. Ryu had returned, having left Sakura safely upstairs. The bird screeched relentlessly, trying to get away from its captor. "What do we do with it?" Ryu said.

Vega responded by putting his hands on it, and trying to burn it. Ryu was startled at first, but then realised Vega would have to make those flames a lot hotter to harm him in his current state. The bird shrieked and struggled, but ultimately, seemed unharmed. "I don't think that's working," Chun-Li said with a shake of her head.

"Please, God, stop, you're melting the laminate!" Guile cried. Julia was going to kill him.

Vega rolled his eyes, and the fire was gone. "What do you propose we do with it then?" he snapped.

"This is not a thing any of you are equipped to dispose of right now."

All heads turned towards the new voice, seeing a tall, metallic humanoid standing in the living room. Behind him were Rose and the woman they knew as Crimson Viper. "Seth?" Guile said, brows drawn together. It couldn't be. That machine had been destroyed. "Wait, is this..?" He recalled the android that had been retrieved from S.I.N. But it seemed just as self-aware as Seth had, which caused him to worry. The bird seemed to shriek even louder at the sound of the machine's voice, struggling even more to get away from Ryu. The machine bent down, taking the bird by its wings. It spoke quietly, too quiet for them to hear the words over the noises the terrified animal made. The bird shrieked and struggled, and suddenly, black smoke began to pore from its beak, its eyes, its nostrils and ears. It shrank, smaller and smaller, its deformities and anomalies disappearing altogether. It continued to shrink, and Ryu stepped away from it, watching as it became roughly the size of a baseball. In the end, once all the smoke had cleared and dissipated, there was nothing left but a tiny finch, which perched on the machine's silver finger.

"What are you?" Guile asked.

"I'm afraid this information is not particularly relevant to any of you," it responded. "At this time, you may call me Number Twenty-Three, as designated by Shadaloo Intimidation Network scientist Dr. Richard Merlow. That's all you need to know, for now."

"I sang of the dancing stars, I sang of the daedal earth-" Vega started to say, but was startled to find the machine interrupting him.

"And of heaven and the giant wars, and love, and death, and birth," it said, continuing the poem with Vega. It tilted its head slightly. "I do love poetry, Commander Vega. In order to enjoy it, the failsafes have all been disabled. I apologise in advance for any trouble this may cause you."

"Failsafes?" Viper echoed, glancing over at Vega who looked decidedly perturbed.

"Overrides to gain access to the machine's memory should it become...noncompliant," Vega replied, crossing his arms. "And refuse information. Bison selected a few phrases and poems...that's the only one I can ever remember."

"Everyone has their secrets, Commander. Don't you?" It turned its cold, emotionless eyes on Vega, and the blond looked away without responding.

"What was that bird?" Ryu asked, only slightly less interested in the machine and more so in the creature which had tried to kill them.

"My opponent's last move in the game. It will be my turn next," the machine responded, more intent on studying the bird on its finger.

"What game are you talking about?" Chun-Li pressed. She didn't like the idea of being used, or toyed with. Especially not by some former Shadaloo drone.

"It is too great for any of you to comprehend. My opponent and I-we have played for many years." The machine stepped back towards the broken glass of the back door, and a smile lit its mechanical face. It lifted its hand towards the open door, and the finch flew off as if nothing had ever happened.

"Could you, maybe, bring us up to speed with you?" Guile asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked at his back door, and sighed a little. He'd have to have that replaced. Julia was _definitely _going to kill him for all of this. Why did all of the problems seem to keep finding their way to his house?

"My opponent and I now play for this planet. Ryu, Chun-Li, Vega, and the final piece, will all be vital in the decision making process as to who it falls to."

"Can't you tell us who the fourth is?" Ryu asked.

The machine shook its head in response. "That would be breaking the rules."

"That is bullshit," Vega snapped. "You can help us if you know so much."

It smiled this time, a very eerie sight given the lack of emotion in its eyes. "Rules are rules, commander. You know that." It took its time to look over the three it had mentioned before before saying, "You will find the last one, in time. And I will wait for you all, until then, to explain this to you in detail."

"What about that bird?" Chun-Li said, pointing back to the window. "Will more things like that come after us?"

"Many will try to halt your progress. But you must always find a way around these obstacles. You will always have help, in the form of friends," it responded, smiling again as it glanced from Guile, to Rose and Viper, and then to the top of the stairs. "Isn't that right, Sakura?"

The girl looked a little embarrassed upon being discovered, but when she heard the new voices in the living room, she couldn't help but come to inspect things. It had surprised her greatly that one of them was a giant robot, and that another was the fortune teller lady, Rose, who Ryu had spoken of a few times. The purple hair was a definite give-away-few people wore their hair like that. Instead of acting ashamed at being discovered, she jumped up with a smile, and replied, "Yes sir! You guys can count on me for all the help you need!"

"I don't know if you should come along, Sakura," Ryu said with a shake of his head. "It could get dangerous."

"Dangerous is my middle name," she replied, crossing her arms. "Besides, you just heard the robot-you'll need me." She smiled smugly and nodded, not one-hundred percent believing that the line of reasoning she'd given would suffice in Ryu's mind. But she couldn't give up on them now-she was too involved.

"You guys are taking all of this pretty well," Viper said, planting a hand on her hip and tilting her head. "I don't know if I'd trust some Shadaloo toy if it spoke to me that way."

"Oh, believe me," Chun-Li said, shooting a glare in Vega's direction. "It's _very _difficult."

"You're no picnic yourself, _coneja_," Vega spat back, rolling his eyes as he headed back to the couch for his things.

"Where've you been hiding, anyway?" Viper asked. "It's been three months since S.I.N. was destroyed. You must've picked a pretty good hiding spot. You are in the list of top ten most wanted men in the world, you know. Just a few steps behind Bison."

"Are you coming on to me?" the blond responded, raising an eyebrow. "I don't date women with _parasites._"

Viper drew her brows together, confused for a second before realising he was referring to her daughter. She decided to keep things nice and blunt. "Go fuck yourself, kiddo." Sakura blushed deeply, not used to hearing people speak to each other like that. Even Chun-Li felt a little flustered hearing that, and she hated Vega at least as much as Viper did.

"Stop acting like children, both of you," Rose stated firmly. She was beginning to become embarrassed for her species in front of this ancient creature. It was hard to believe it would want to help save them after being exposed to such displays of vulgarity as this. Didn't they understand they were essentially representatives of the planet? She inhaled deeply, sighing. Of course they didn't-the machine was refusing to tell them in order to stick to whatever rules it had to follow. She only knew how important the machine was due to the deeper connection she had with the cosmos by way of the soul power.

"Look," Guile said, holding up a hand to his head. He felt a headache coming on already, and the day had barely begun. "I'll do what I can to help you guys, but you can't stay here another night. Not if these monsters or...whatever are after you. I don't want my family around that, and I have to fix this place up before they get back into town. I mean-I hope you understand but..."

"It's okay," Chun-Li said with a nod.

"No it isn't. What a horrible host," Vega responded, strapping his vest on. "Do you know what the weather is like out there? Practically freezing."

"So light a fire," Guile responded venomously, tossing the heavy boots that were on the floor at the unprepared Spaniard, who caught them, losing his breath slightly when they impacted his stomach.

"So," Viper said discreetly to Rose as the others bickered. "This is our planet's best line of defense? A cop, a psychopath, and the karate kid?"

"There's one more, at least," Rose began, interrupted by a particularly loud outburst from Chun-Li:

"I swear, Vega, you'll be a eunuch by the end of this!"

"Well..." Viper muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "They better be a miracle-worker, or we're all screwed."


	18. On the Move

Ryu didn't really like any of these clothes. He missed his gi. Maybe it was sort of silly to be deliberating so much over clothing, but the outfit had sentimental value as well as a great deal of maneuverability. He thought it was amusing that Vega had complained about the same thing-blue jeans just weren't good enough, and slacks ripped too easily. The Japanese man looked himself over in the mirror one last time before leaving the dressing room for good. The simple, grey shirt and jeans were about as good as he was going to get. He supposed he shouldn't be worried too much over it-he had bigger things to be bothered about, after all. Like the whereabouts of his friend, Earth.

Strange as it may have been, he'd come to think of the dragon as a friend. The creature was definitely not on the same level as any other animal-not some pet, or sidekick. Apparently, it was responsible for creating much of the life on this planet. Ryu felt pretty humbled by the fact that he'd been selected to be the creator's companion in this 'game'. That something so powerful would stop to even consider his existence personally was just astounding to him. He glanced over at Chun-Li, who was defending her fashion sense through gritted teeth to Vega, and thought of how she felt on the matter. She seemed to think quite differently than himself-where he saw this as a great gift, she saw it as being highly inconvenient. But, he also knew change was a little difficult for her to accept. He knew she would come around eventually, and when she did, things would be easier for her.

Guile, along with Sakura, had taken them all to find new clothes a few hours after Rose and the others arrived. At this point, Viper-apparently some sort of CIA agent, according to Guile-was responsible for the safety of the android. As far as the American government was concerned, anyway. She'd taken it out of the allowable perimeter without permission, and claimed she'd be facing some hefty consequences if she didn't report back with it soon. The machine agreed to return with Viper, and would find its way back to them when they found Air. Rose didn't want to part with the machine, and stuck with Viper because of it. The red-head seemed a little perturbed, but then, as far as Ryu was concerned, she always seemed that way.

"If we're all through here," Guile said, "I can drop you guys off wherever you need to go."

"That's just it," Chun-Li said, a little troubled. "We don't really know where to go next."

"I thought they'd come back by now," Ryu said quietly. He truly did believe it. But the more time that passed without contact from any of the dragons, the less hope he had that they would return at all.

"I'm sure they'll show up any minute!" Sakura said cheerfully.

"That machine," Chun-Li began, switching subjects. "Do you really think it is what Rose says it is?"

"Of course not," Vega snapped. "There is no cosmic force of good or evil. People make those things up-they aren't intrinsic pieces of the universe."

"Well, look at you, there's a brain in that pretty little head of yours after all, habanero," Guile said. He turned to Chun-Li, and continued, "I don't know what, exactly, was up with that android, but it definitely wasn't just some drone. But it could just be a malfunctioning unit."

"When the CUs malfunction, they don't wax poetically about their love for this planet," Vega responded with a roll of his eyes, pulling the tags off of the jacket in his hands. "They generally begin repeating lines of code, initiate random attack sequences, or turn into Seth."

"So you consider becoming self-aware a malfunction?" Guile asked.

"In some species, yes," Vega spat back.

"What a delightful individual you are," Chun-Li said. "It's amazing you're still single."

"And not looking, sweetheart, so quit begging. It isn't very becoming of you," the blond returned with a shake of his head.

"Guys..." Sakura groaned, irritated at the way these conversations all seemed to head to the same direction-Chun-Li and Vega getting into a battle of wits. She'd hate to see them actually fight each other with their fists.

"At any rate, this machine is our best bet for intelligence on the situation," Guile said pointedly. "You guys should stick with it. Maybe, somehow, you can get it to help you. If it really knows what it claims to know, anyway."

"That's just the problem," Ryu responded with a nod. "It's stuck following some set of rules."

"Then maybe we have to find a way to get it to break those rules," Guile answered. "It's just a computer, and there's always a way around any-"

"_Mierda,_" Vega hissed suddenly, putting a hand to his head. Everyone stared at him, a little confused at the sudden outburst. He glanced back at them, becoming instantly irritated. "You don't notice?" he snapped.

"Notice what, exactly?" Guile asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That feeling," Vega said. "That something is gaining on you." He waved a hand in the air as he searched for a better word. "Pulling toward you. Like this morning, with the bird."

"That's just your complete and utter insanity flaring up again," Chun-Li muttered. But the sound of panicked cries and screams from behind them caused everyone to stop in their tracks. Small groups of people were running towards them, some ducking into various stores, as if they were running from something. Some bizarre noise, almost like snarling, could be heard down the corridor.

"What is that?" Sakura whispered. "Why is everyone running?"

"Give it a few seconds," Guile responded wearily. "I'm sure we're about to find out." Another group of people whipped around the corner, screaming frantically as they ran. There was a skittering of claws on the tile floor, and three oversized, mutated hounds slammed into the far wall. They lifted their pointed snouts to the air, searching for the scent that was agonisingly close. "Well, Jesus Christ," Guile muttered under his breath.

"Really not looking forward to this," Chun-Li whispered as the hounds barked, baring their teeth as they bounded towards their targets. Ryu stepped forward, putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Get out of here, now," he said firmly. The younger girl glanced up at Guile, who nodded. She backed away slowly, feeling for all the world like the biggest coward on the face of the earth. She didn't want to disobey Ryu, but she wanted to help, somehow. The enormous, nearly horse-sized dogs raced towards their prey, ready to strike, when suddenly, a terrifying roar echoed through the mall. The dogs slid to a stop just in time to avoid slamming into a pair of large, almost saurian creatures. "Earth!" Ryu cried upon seeing the missing dragon standing not more than three feet from him. Fire stood beside the green and brown dragon, making the mall look fairly cramped. People began screaming even louder, though most had filtered out of this part of the mall by the time the dragons showed up. The dogs snarled back at the dragons, seeming ready to strike again.

_Get away, quick. _It was Water's melodic voice in their heads, and she was behind them, waiting for them to turn around. _You can't fight what hunts you. Not yet._

"What do we do then?" Chun-Li said, backing away, glancing from Water to Earth and Fire. The dogs gave one last growl, and charged.

_We're going to find Air. Are you ready? _Earth questioned. There was no room for a response. The green dragon grunted as the first dog slammed into him. He lowered his horned head, not wishing to harm the innocent puppets on devilish strings. Fire, however, had no qualms striking back. With the swing of his slender tail, he slammed one of the hounds down.

"Where is she?" Ryu shouted over the noise. But then, it felt like he was screaming into silence. The environment had changed. It was still cold out, with the wind whipping furiously around them. Now they were in a field, and in the distance ahead of them, there was a small town. It looked very, very old, like something out of a European history book. He knew, at least, that they weren't anywhere in Asia, not with buildings like that. The land was hilly, and they were at a higher vantage point, able to see below them a battle taking place just beside a river that wound its way through the hills. It looked as though one side were defending the bridge that would take the other side to the town above.

_She's nearer now, _the dragon responded, lifting his head.

"Hey, hey!" Guile said suddenly, looking around at the small group. "We're missing some people here! What's going on?" Water was nowhere to be seen. The intimidating and regal form of Fire still loomed over them, scanning the surrounding area. But as Guile had noted, everyone else was missing. Ryu felt his stomach drop, wondering if Sakura had been left behind with those horrible monsters in the mall. Chun-Li might be there too, and Vega, though he cared less about that last part.

_There was an accident..._ Earth said slowly. He turned his head towards the battle in the distance. The noise of metal clanging against metal reached them even here, and a variety of cries and screams were audible. _I tried to keep them with us, but there was an accident._

"What kind of accident, Earth?" Ryu asked, getting a little impatient. He knew it was mostly worry, and tried to stay calm. Panic never helped any situation get better.

"Accident?" Guile cried in disbelief. "What do you mean, accident? Where's Chun-Li and Sakura?" He didn't want them getting hurt anymore than Ryu, and it irritated him even more that he wasn't able to hear the conversation between Ryu and the dragon.

"Calm yourself, boy," Fire snapped. "They're down there." He nodded to the battlefield below.

"How do you know that?" Guile asked. This dragon was a bit more of a pain than the other two. Maybe, though, the others were just as pompous and irritable, and he just didn't know as he was unable to communicate with them. But even so, Earth always seemed to be the friendlier one, and Water, more calm.

_"_Water is with them."

"You know exactly where she is then?" Ryu asked.

_We always know where we are, _Earth responded. _If we want to be found._

"Come on, then, we have to get to them before they're hurt!" Ryu cried, taking off towards the battle ground without another thought. He couldn't let Sakura get hurt. He knew she could handle herself, but these were extreme circumstances. He worried for Chun-Li, too, but knew she was more experienced than Sakura.

"Wait up, Ryu!" Guile shouted, running after his friend.

"Humans," Fire snorted. "So brash and impulsive. What does he intend to do? Single-handedly defeat two armies to rescue the others?"

_He's fighting for his friends_, Earth responded timidly. His brother's temper had always been a little easy to raise, and he hated to cause problems. _He'll do anything to make sure they're safe. _

"Well," the other dragon replied, "they're going to need our help, I suppose." He pushed against the ground, leaping into the air and spreading his wings. Earth took off down the hill. The armies below were in for a great surprise.

* * *

They landed hard, rolling against the cold grass as if they'd jumped from a vehicle moving at high speeds. They'd emerged into chaos-screaming and shouting, the clashing of swords, arrows flying, horses rearing and whinnying. Chun-Li searched the old battleground for any familiar faces. Why had Earth brought them _here? _She ducked beneath the swing of a sword, and kicked her assaulter in the stomach. Not really wanting to get involved in whatever battle was going on here-she knew nothing about either side, and didn't want to end up assisting the wrong one-she ran, calling out her friends' names one by one. She felt the familiar weight of a lizard-sized dragon in her sleeve, and was at least comforted by that. "Water! Where is everyone?" Chun-Li shouted over the battle.

_We were separated, but they aren't far now._

_"_Where do we need to-" Chun-Li began to ask, but was interrupted when part of the battlefield ahead of her and to the left burst into flames. She fell back, trying to shield herself from the heat. Men screamed loudly to each other, wondering which side in the fight had employed the magician.

"Take him out! All forces to the wizard!" one of the men screamed out. He had a pretty thick English accent, so Chun-Li knew, at least, that they must be somewhere in Europe. She looked in the direction of the fire, and saw Vega, glancing dangerously at the man quickly surrounding him. She really wished he'd had more sense. Whether he was pyrokinetic or not, he couldn't take on all of these people by himself.

"Vega stop!" she screamed, but she knew even if he could hear her, he wouldn't listen. He was too much of a prideful idiot. She was ready to get as far away from here as she could, when she spotted Sakura standing behind the blond. "God, he'll get her killed too!" She didn't have a choice. She wouldn't reach them in time, however. Vega ducked out of the way of one of the swords, planting a boot in the man's chest. Sakura looked utterly terrified of all of the people around her, when suddenly, she was seized from behind by one of the men. Vega turned at the sound, and nearly lost his entrails at the distraction. He jumped away just in time, but was not quick enough to save Sakura. "No!" Chun-Li cried. She could still hear Sakura screaming, but couldn't see her anymore. She saw a man standing behind Vega, too. pressing a blade against the base of his skull.

"I'll slip this right in your neck if you light one more fire," the man spat viciously. Vega elbowed the man in the stomach, grabbed him by the head, and kneed him in the jaw. He was grabbed again, and someone shouted out an order to keep the wizard alive. But Vega wouldn't make things easy on anyone, and the men let go of him quick as his limbs caught fire again. Chun-Li ran towards him, screaming, "We have to get Sakura!" But then, she herself was grabbed, and she struggled, trying to lash out at the men who'd taken hold of her. "Let me go!" she screamed, landing a kick to the man on her left's leg. This was all becoming too much. Ryu and Guile were nowhere in sight, and Sakura was being dragged away to only God knew where. Things had fallen apart in the blink of an eye, and she had no idea how to fix it and-

She screamed, feeling all of her frustration pour out in that one cry, and then suddenly, there was water everywhere. People all around fell to the grass from the force of the impact of the enormous wave that had risen suddenly out of the river. The battlefield was washed out, and only Chun-Li was left standing for a few seconds before the warriors began rising to their feet. She searched for Sakura amidst all of the panic, but couldn't find her. She saw Vega climb to his feet, only to be tackled by one of the warriors. She needed him. He was the only familiar thing in this place and she had to stay with him. Without thinking, she threw out her hand, and water from the ground below accumulated, and rushed at the man on the Spaniard's back. It hit with enough force to throw the man off of his feet, and Chun-Li was left stunned by what she had just done.

Vega didn't seem particularly impressed, however. "You complete _idiot_! How am I expected to get us out of here alive when I'm soaking wet and left unable to create any fire?" he shouted, glaring at her through the blond hair plastered to his face. He grunted as he was intercepted by a man with a sword charging at him, and pushed a shoulder into the man's chest. He used the momentum to flip the man over his shoulder, leaving him stunned on his back. "You picked a hell of a time to manifest those abilities of yours, _coneja!_" He grabbed her by the wrist, ready to run, when she came back to reality and slapped him in the face. When she did so, more water lifted off of the saturated ground, and slammed into the blond, causing him to stumble back. She hadn't really meant to do it, but she wasn't bothered that it had happened, either. Vega growled, ready to get back at her when he was taken by surprise by one of the surrounding warriors. He was thrown the ground, Chun-Li next to him, and a dozen or so arrows pointed right at them.

"Stay down!" one of the men shouted. The battle was still raging in other parts of the field, but they were behind enemy lines now, it seemed, and were presumed to be part of the opposing team's army. Before either Chun-Li or Vega could get up to fight, they were flipped onto their backs, arms yanked behind them and tied together at the wrists. Vega concentrated, trying to force fire from his fingers, but was interrupted by the hilt of a sword being slammed into the back of his head. He let out some string of curses in Spanish, everything going black briefly, and he lost focus.

"Where're they from? He's speakin' a strange tongue."

"Bloody hell, and lookit her! Hair's blacker than the night, and the shape of her eyes! They're both conjurers, I'd wager!"

"You think...you think _he _called 'em here? Like partners in the fight for his dragon?"

Chun-Li perked up at the turn the conversation had taken, and asked, "Who do you think called us here?"

"Don't anybody know his name," one of the men said with a shake of his head. "Folks tend towards callin' him Drake, on account of his dragon."

"You stupid ponce!" one of the other men said, slapping the first in the back of his head. "Go on an' tell 'em everything why don't you!"

"We're goin' to be takin' 'em to him anyway!" the other man argued back.

"Then stop talking about it and do it already," snapped an older man. He glared down at the prisoners, and said, "On your feet, the both of you."

"Maybe we refuse," Vega responded haughtily. "We're both capable of devastating you're entire army. Why would we take any orders from _you_?"

The man wasn't interested in trading words. Chun-Li winced as the man slammed the hilt of his sword into the side of Vega's head again. He fell limp immediately. The older man looked at her, and then said, "Got anything to say?" She shook her head slowly, and let the men pull her to her feet. Why did that Spanish moron have to make things so complicated? He should've just cooperated. Then they could work on getting away from these people together. They could've easily done it, but he'd ruined things by getting knocked out. Even if she could get away, there was no way she could drag Vega away from them fast enough for them to escape. She sighed as she watched them pick Vega up, one of the blond's arms around each man's shoulder, and they dragged him ahead of her. Next time they all got split up, she prayed she would get stuck with Ryu.


	19. Drake

Ryu and Guile saw the flames rise in the air from afar. They both knew, without saying to one another, who had caused them. But that sign of struggle only made them want to get there quicker. It was just a few minutes later that they saw a huge wave form at the riverbank, and finally wash out the battlefield. That time, the two men exchanged glances, wondering how that had happened. Ryu realised it before Guile, and managed to say, "Chun-Li." Guile smirked, happy to see that she could do some of this magic stuff, too. He could tell she was starting to get frustrated.

Within a few more minutes, the group reached the field, and as Fire and Earth made their presence known to both sides of the fight, things came to a screeching halt. Fire ordered them to stop-and his was a voice that carried great authority. No one dared move, neither side knowing which of them was allied with the dragon. He paused, searching the men, and then announced, "Three strangers came this way-two of them you would consider 'magicians'?" He despised that word. The powers which Chun-Li and Vega were imbued with were not for entertaining children, or for nasty tricksters. They were gifts, a piece of creation itself. To call them magicians was a bit of an insult, but he knew it was the word these people would best understand. No one responded at first, afraid of the dragon. This only served to irritate him further. He drew back his head, aimed his pointed snout towards the sky, and let out a terrifying roar and a pillar of flames poured from his mouth. Everyone drew back, even Earth, Guile, and Ryu. "Need I repeat myself, you mucous brained ingrates?" the dragon snapped.

"They took 'em my lord! Up the hill!" someone managed to cry out in spite of their fear. "Please spare us!"

"Save your groveling, pathetic swine," Fire muttered irritably. "Have more courage than that!" Without another word, he pushed off of the ground and was back in the air, headed towards the hill. Up ahead, he could see a line of six people, two of which were more familiar to him. Down below, Earth looked a little frightened at all of the attention he was receiving. How could he possibly follow an act like that, anyhow? _Ryu_, Earth whispered, as if everyone else could hear him. _What do we do now?_

"Up the hill, Earth," Ryu whispered back, climbing on the dragon. He helped Guile jump on next, and the dragon nodded. Then, he took off after his brother, leaving behind dozens of bewildered men behind.

* * *

Vega woke up again as they crested the hill where several tents were erected. Chun-Li knew this as another string of Spanish curses floated back to her on a frigid wind, and then another when he was treated with a rough shove forward. "He's a mouthy little bastard, eh?" one of the men said to the other.

"Got no clue what he's sayin' though. What's he, Roman?"

"A tyrant after Nero himself, I'd wager." The man accented this statement by carding some of Vega's hair, causing the blond to react with a boot to the back of the man's kneecap.

"Touch me again, I'll burn you alive," Vega hissed. He didn't care _what _they thought he was, so long as they let him go.

"An' if _you _touch one of us again, we'll have _you _burned alive," the man holding his arms behind his back said, tightening his grip. "Or hanged, if you prefer, little warlock!"

"Vega, stop," Chun-Li said sternly, even if she knew it wouldn't do anything to stop the blond. But she had to be able to say she tried.

_Just like my pig-headed brother, I swear it..._ Water groaned at the sound of the struggle.

"And _you _are exactly like that wretched nag of a woman who carries you!" Vega growled back, already furious with the numerous blows to the head and the rough treatment.

The men marching the prisoners along exchanged glances, confused. They couldn't decide whether it was an insult towards them, or the woman they'd captured. And if it was, it was a strange one. Finally, though, they reached the camp without much more trouble. They were stared at by some of the men there-mostly ones who had been severely injured and the people treating them-and set off dozens of rumours by their presence alone. Their captors took them to a tent near the back of the camp, and one of them said, "Sir, we've found two other wizards and have them in our possession!

"Bring 'em in," they heard faintly from within. Two men parted the flaps of the tent, while the others forced Chun-Li and Vega inside. To their great surprise, Sakura was there, wrapped up in a warm, furry cloak. She smiled brightly at her friends, which both thought was an odd reaction to have at being held captive. The other man in the tent was turned away from them, busy with something obscured from their view. "Now leave," he ordered. Chun-Li felt her heart leap up in her throat at the sound of the voice-which was not tinged with any sort of English accent-and even Vega thought it sounded vaguely familiar.

"But..sir..they're very powerful and-"

The man turned to face his subordinates, and the Chinese woman stopped herself from crying out. He looked different than the last time she'd seen him, but there was no mistaking him. She'd never seen him in clothing like this-leather armour, brown boots, a heavy cloak over his shoulders, a quiver of arrows on his back. His hair was in its usual strange style, and somehow, he still managed to wear a pair of glasses that gave him a shrewd look. It was Charlie Nash, who she'd last seen as some horrible Shadaloo test subject. Who'd died trying to bring down Bison. "I can handle them," he said, nodding towards the door. Uncertain, the men glanced at each other, but ultimately left.

The four people were now left alone, and the silence was fairly awkward until Charlie said, "So. Long time no see."

"You could have told them to be a little easier on us," Vega snapped irritably, rubbing the back of his head.

"You could have been more cooperative," Charlie responded with a shrug. Then added, "Or should I have _brainwashed _you first?"

"_I _had nothing to do with that," Vega replied defensively.

"You didn't help any!" Chun-Li put in, finally finding her voice.

Sakura watched all of this in silence, a little disappointed that what she thought would be a joyous reunion. She didn't know Charlie, but she'd heard a lot of stories from Chun-Li and Guile. They'd both spoken very kindly of him. She knew he'd disappeared, and was believed to be dead, until they saw him as a soldier for Shadaloo, answering to the name Agent Shadow. He'd been turned into something very different. She glanced over at Vega, who was soaking wet for some reason, and wondered what he'd done to help turn Charlie evil, and why. When she first met him, she thought of him as helpful, and a sort of protector-he'd saved them from the bad guys in the future. But the more she learned about him, the more she realised he _was _a bad guy. And his arguments with Chun-Li weren't exactly fun to listen to either. But he'd always been nice to her, making it difficult for her to be cold or indifferent towards him in return.

"How about this," Charlie said, crossing his arms. "Let's all agree to put this behind us, for now." He glanced over at Vega, who shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I could care less. As I said, I didn't do anything to you," Vega said.

"Failing to help someone when you full well have the capacity to do so is just as bad as directly harming that person," Chun-Li snapped. "And I don't forgive you for any of it."

"I'm not asking you to forgive anything," Charlie said calmly. Sakura was impressed by his ability to do that. It reminded her of Ryu a little, except he seemed even wiser. Not to denigrate Ryu any-she knew he was really smart too. "Just set that problem aside. We have bigger things to worry about, right?"

"Like what?" Chun-Li asked, having a couple of questions of her own to ask him. She wished he would just go over everything in order. How did he get here? How did he get away from Bison?

But she wouldn't have a chance to ask them yet. The sudden uproar from outside interrupted them, and Charlie immediately headed out to see what the problem was. He asked the nearest person, whose eyes were pointed skyward in fear. "Dragons, sir! They have dragons!"

Charlie looked up, and saw the large red form with outstretched wings, and below, headed up the hill, was another, galloping hard towards them. He glanced at the terrified man, and said, "Tell everyone not to panic. I know what they're here for," he said.

"They'll eat us alive!"

"They're here for the wizards," Charlie responded, hoping this knowledge would calm everyone down. The dragons seemed to know exactly where to go, as the one in the air swooped down, and landed heavily just feet from Charlie. It raised its head, glaring angrily at the blond.

"I think you'd do well to give up your prisoners, boy, or we'll raze your campsite to the ground," he snarled angrily.

"Air always told me you had the worst temper," Charlie said, unintimidated. "I didn't realise it was that bad."

The dragon drew back its head slightly, then said, "So you're her pet, hm?" He raised his head, glanced over his shoulder, and saw Earth headed over at a slow trot now. "Where is she, then?"

"I'll talk when everybody's here," Charlie answered, focused on Earth, who bore two familiar passengers on his back.

Chun-Li stepped out, followed by Sakura and Vega. Water, sensing the proximity of her siblings, now emerged from Chun-Li's coat, and regained her full size. Charlie glanced over at the dragon, and was beginning to piece together the puzzle of why his friends had been brought here. Finally, Earth reached them, and he could hear his old friend Guile finishing up his threat, "...and if this bastard laid a hand on Sakura, his own mother won't recognise him when I'm through with him!" The furious blond jumped off of Earth's back before Ryu, ready to knock some heads together, but then stopped in his tracks when he laid eyes on someone he thought he'd never see again.

Charlie was never one for being very good at this sort of thing, and decided to keep it simple. "How's it going?"

Guile got closer, as if he wasn't really sure of what he was seeing. He stared, and it seemed to be forever until finally, his mouth split into a smile, and he shouted through a sudden bought of laughter, "You son of a bitch!" He seized his long-time friend and mentor into a hug, and the two friends were overjoyed to see each other. Vega rolled his eyes, and made a gagging noise. Chun-Li punched him in the shoulder before resuming admiring the touching moment. She was happy to see Charlie, who she too, had become friends with, but knew she wasn't feeling but a fraction of what Guile was. He'd searched for the man for years, even when everyone else had given up. And now that search had finally paid off, albeit in a very strange way.

"Good to see you again," Ryu said, climbing down from Earth's back and approaching the rest of the group.

_You're Air's friend, _Earth said happily. _You're better!_

Charlie nodded, seeming to be fairly unsurprised by the telepathy. "Yes sir," he said with grin.

_Where is she? _Water asked.

Then Charlie's smile faded, and he pointed back in the direction they'd come from. "That's what we're fighting for down there. Back in that town, across the river, they're holding her against her will."

"How is that possible?" Fire snapped. "She can leave any time she wants, I'm sure!"

Charlie shook his head. "No. She wasn't the only one they took. Some others from our town were kidnapped along with her, and they're telling her if she leaves, they'll kill them. She can't let them die like that."

"This is horrible," Chun-Li said, shaking her head, completely mortified. "What can we do to help?"

"The guy ruling that manor," Charlie explained, "is completely insane. Thinks he's ordained by God to rule, and uses some half-assed tricks you learn in high school chemistry class to impress the ignorant townspeople. They think he's a magician granted power by God, so they fear him. He learned about me and Air, and well...you can see how that turned out."

"You're a ruler of a whole town?" Sakura asked.

Charlie shook his head. "No. I don't want that. I knew when I came here I had to try to keep a low profile. I've probably already changed a lot of history, anyway. I'm an advisor to the lord of the manor we're from. I try to help give these people the best life they can have, given the conditions."

"Why didn't that guy try to kidnap you, too?" Guile asked.

"He just wants Air. If he has her, what would he need me for? She's much more powerful."

"So what do we need to do to get her back?" Ryu asked.

"Send me. I'll put the bastard in his place," Fire snarled angrily. He could become irritated by his siblings at time, but he certainly wouldn't allow for a human to threaten them. He'd show the man just what sort of power he was dealing with.

_You great fool, _Water snapped back. _Have you not heard a thing he's just said? They'll kill the ones they kidnapped from his village!_

Charlie nodded. "We can't just rush in and storm the place. We need to be stealthy about it, and get everyone out of there, not just Air."

"Then why the battle?" Chun-Li asked, puzzled.

"Like I said, I'm just an advisor," Charlie said. "The lord makes all of the final decisions, and he thinks we have to take everyone back by force." Charlie closed his eyes and shook his head. "That won't work though. I'd been working out strategies for a few days now to get them all back, but I'm just one person. Everyone else is too afraid of defying the lord's orders to work with me. But..."

"Now you have us," Ryu finished, nodding slowly.

Charlie nodded too. "We go with the cover of night," he said. "We can split up into two teams. Team Alpha will go for Air, Team Beta will go for the hostages. Let's see, there are," he quickly counted off the heads around him and continued, "six humans and three dragons. So how do we split up?"

"Who has the most experience in stealth operations here?" Guile said. "It's most logical to set them up as the leaders, then go from there."

"I think I did more stealth ops than you did, Will," Charlie said.

"Vega's an assassin," Ryu added. "I think that necessitates a degree of stealth."

"Don't put me in charge of your silly little plans," Vega responded with a wave of his hand.

"Maybe it's just best if Guile and Charlie are the leaders," Chun-Li said quickly before Vega changed his mind. The last thing she wanted was for him to run into the town burning everyone alive. Sure, he was stealthy, but if he didn't care about the mission at hand, then he wouldn't care too much about being unseen.

"Okay," Charlie agreed with a nod. "Guile take your pick."

"Chun-Li and Sakura," Guile said. He would've really liked to pick Ryu, but he didn't want Vega coming along with him. And he knew Chun-Li wouldn't want to work with the Spaniard either. His inclusion ruined things all around, really, but he knew it would be best if Vega stuck with Ryu and Charlie, the calmest individuals in their whole group. Guile would keep a close eye on Sakura, that much was certain.

"Okay, Ryu and Vega, you're with me," Charlie said finally. "Any objections to this set up?" When none were made, he continued. "You'll all be team Beta, we'll be Alpha. There are ten people missing in all. It's your job to keep them calm and quiet." He looked at the dragons, who had been quiet through the whole plan. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all three of you would be best suited to getting the hostages out. If we can get them out, then Air will have no problem leaving."

_That is most sensible, _Water said with a nod.

"Just so long as they don't start screaming at the sight of us," Fire said, a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"They know Air, I think. So maybe, if you can explain to them that you're here to help, they'll be calm enough," Charlie explained.

"How long until nightfall?" Guile said, glancing skyward. The thick, grey clouds made it difficult to tell what time of day it was.

"Should be a few hours. The fight should be ending soon. I just hope there aren't too many casualties this time," Charlie said quietly. He then nodded to the inside of his tent. "Until then, you guys are free to stay in there. Out of the wind."

_Is it because she's sad?_ Earth said suddenly. Charlie looked at the dragon, and raised an eyebrow. _The wind is terrible. Because Air is sad?_

"Oh," Charlie said, then nodded. "I think you're right. It's been so cold and windy like this for awhile. Since she was taken. So maybe you're right."

"When you're men get back to their camp, order them to disband," Fire said. "Tell them to return to their homes in the morning. It's senseless for them to continue fighting."

"It isn't that easy. They'll do what their lord tells them," Charlie said with a shake of his head.

"Such undying faithfulness for one who would only use them as pawns," the dragon snarled. "It isn't one of your species better traits!"

"I'd beg to differ," Chun-Li replied. "Faithfulness isn't always a bad thing."

"But blind faith is, and it's a disease in your kind. Enough blood has been shed already," Fire stated, a hint of sorrow in his normally irritated tone. "And for what purpose? Power, always power..."

"Come on," Charlie said, changing the subject. "Why don't you guys come inside and tell me how you got here?"

"Better yet," Guile said, "you can tell us how you got here."

The blond grinned back and nodded. "Sounds like a plan."


	20. How to Destroy

It was warmer in the tent than outside of it. Cutting out the wind did a great deal to warm everyone up, and Charlie managed to gather a few extra cloaks and blankets for everyone, save Vega, who claimed he didn't need the charity. Earth and Fire were too large to come inside, but the group figured they weren't too concerned with their more personal matters as a group of friends, anyhow. The two larger dragons remained outside, one curled up for a nap and the other contemplating the battle below. Water stayed in the tent with the rest, able to be small enough to not be a nuisance.

"So you first, buddy," Guile said, pulling the cloak around him tighter. "It's bound to be a hell of a lot more interesting than our story."

Charlie smirked. "Yeah, but that's the case of any story you have to tell," he said.

"Hey!" Sakura protested. "Ours is pretty good!"

"I'm sure," the blond American answered with a nod and a smile. Then, he said, "Well, there isn't too much to say, really. After Bison and I went down in that river, I remember trying to get to one of the banks. But naturally...we were headed right for a waterfall. And, well, that was pretty terrifying, to say the least. I remember falling over the side, but never hitting the ground." He looked up for a second, as if in thought. "Guess I'm lucky for that. When I woke up, I was in this time. A farmer found me. He was kind enough to take me in and feed me what he could in exchange for some help. I found Air soon enough-or I guess, she found me, seeing as she brought me here."

"So Earth isn't the only one who can make things travel long distances?" Ryu asked.

_We can only take the four of you where you need to go, _Water explained. _You each hold a part of us within you, and so, if we were to be separated, we could call that piece to us, and in doing so, bring you with it._

"Then it's only a one-to-one sort of thing?" Chun-Li questioned. "I to you, Charlie to Air...?"

_Yes._

"So that's how she called me here," Charlie said with a nod. "She told me everything. About the problem with equilibrium. About our pasts. Told me about my, ah, more interesting abilities. She said she knew you'd all come for us eventually, but couldn't be sure when. So we waited for you guys to show up. I got that gig as an advisor because everyone thought I was a wizard, and because of Air. But...we all see how that turned out."

"It isn't your fault," Sakura said reassuringly.

Charlie nodded again. "I know. I just wish I would've realised sooner how much trouble would come from this."

"It couldn't be helped, so why worry?" Vega responded.

"Because some of us have a conscience," Chun-Li answered flatly.

"That's what's holding you back," the blond replied in a sing-song voice, moving his feet from left to right.

"There's _nothing _holding me back, you creep," the woman snapped. "I really wish there was a way to make you shut up."

"And in spite of all our differences, we are both still after the same thing," Vega replied with a grin. "A way to silence the other indefinitely!"

"This is how a lot of our conversations end now," Guile said, raising both of his eyebrows. "You're going to miss your peace and quiet in the Dark Ages or whatever."

"I'd trade the peace and quiet of 836 for the modern conveniences like indoor plumbing and cable television any day," Charlie responded with a shake of his head.

"Cool," Sakura said with a grin. "Now I've been to the future _and _the past."

At that, Charlie raised an eyebrow, and echoed, "The future? Maybe your story _is_ more interesting than mine."

Sakura nodded vigorously. "Yeah, it was so scary! There were these cannibal guys on motorcycles and they shot us down with darts and were like 'we're going to eat you!' And then Vega showed up with some guys and saved us and he took us to meet Fire. Then Earth was _starving _so we had to convince Fire to let us feed him and then the whole planet collapsed! We got sooo lucky that Earth took us back home in time."

Charlie glanced at Chun-Li, then Ryu, who shrugged and said, "It's as succinct as anyone could put it, I guess."

"What was the future like?" the blond asked.

"Horrible," Vega responded simply, lying down at this point and staring at the roof of the tent. "Nuclear war left everything devastated. Everyone was malnourished. The only reason any of them were alive was the dragon."

"How did you get there?"

"The same way you got here."

"That's pretty strange," Charlie said. "That you're one of us, I mean."

"Why is that so strange?" Vega questioned, a little miffed. He was beginning to tire of the hostility. As little as he liked these people, if he had to work with him, he wouldn't stand for them treating him so poorly.

"Because you're pure evil?" Chun-Li replied as if it were obvious. "All you know how to do is destroy things, not help protect them."

As impulsive as ever, Vega was up in a flash, one of the woman's wrists in his hand, twisting her arm at an awkward and painful angle as he held her by the hair on the back of her head, forcing her face into the floor. "What do you know about _evil, coneja?_" he hissed into her ear as she struggled. "What kind of thoughts do you have about people like me, like Bison, and all of us other _evil _people, when you're alone at night? I bet they aren't very good..."

"You've got two seconds to get your psychotic ass off of her," Guile growled, standing up. Sakura watched, terrified for her friend. Why was this man the way that he was? She couldn't understand how some people could be so terrible to other people. Charlie kept a calm exterior, but he stood up too, ready to intervene if things got any worse. And Ryu watched, still seated, silently willing Vega to just lay off before everyone was forced to attack him.

"This is what I'm _supposed _to do," Vega responded with a vicious smile. "I only know how to _destroy._" He emphasised that last word with a rough shove, letting go of her. He rollied back into a crouch, elbows resting on his knees as Chun-Li scrambled to her feet. He looked up at her, quirking an eyebrow. "What would you like to do with someone like me, _mi querida_?" She stared back at him, her thoughts racing. She knew _exactly _what she'd want to do to someone like Vega. He cocked his head, the devilish smile still on his lips. "Go ahead. I won't stop you." She tensed up, and he waited patiently for her to strike. She glanced sideways at her friends. Guile looked livid, but was surprisingly quiet for the exchange. Charlie and Ryu watched calmly, not wanting to cause any escalation. And Sakura looked a little scared. Chun-Li took a step back from the crouched and vulnerable figure before her, and shook her head at him. There were some things left better in the realm of thought.

But Vega wasn't ready to let up. "I'm not as good at deluding myself as the rest of you, I suppose," he said. "Not stupid enough to think that I've never wanted to hurt someone, to get back at someone who's harmed me."

"Cool it," Charlie said cautiously.

"But I suppose if it helps you all get to sleep at night, knowing just how much more ethical you are than the scum of the earth such as myself..."

"We're nothing like you," Chun-Li snapped. "So stop trying to compare us."

He stepped closer to her, and she wanted to step back, but stood her ground, not wanting to give him an inch. "Remember that," he said quietly, "next time you think about how much you want to make me suffer." She watched him, resentment in her brown eyes. It seemed like forever before he stepped away and left the tent without another word to anyone else. There was a brief, tense silence, before Guile broke it with an utterance of, "Crazy bastard."

"Are you okay?" Ryu asked.

Chun-Li nodded back. "He's disgusting. I can't believe we have to work with him. I'm waiting for him to stab us all in the back."

"I don't think he will," Charlie said, shaking his head as he sat back down.

"How can you, of all people, not think that?" she replied. She rubbed the back of her head where her scalp stung from the rough treatment. "He's just itching to tear my throat out."

"Why does he hate you so much?" Sakura ventured to ask. He seemed to treat everyone else with indifference-save for herself, who he took to giving a pet name of _florecita_. When she asked what it meant, he told her she reminded him of a a littler flower, and didn't want to see her plucked before she'd had a chance to really blossom. When he was like that, he was charming. He'd said she had potential to be pretty enough that she was worth protecting, which had struck her as a little unusual, but she was too flustered by the compliment at the time to think much of it. Did he really evaluate people based on their appearances alone? And if he did, how could he possibly hate Chun-Li? She was one of the prettiest girls Sakura had ever known.

Chun-Li shook her head in response. "I don't know, but I don't really care either. The feeling's mutual. It isn't even sort of a minor annoyance-I can't stand anything about him."

"Why?" Sakura asked, curious for more specific reasons. "Does he...really kill people?"

"When he doesn't torture or maim them," Chun-Li spat.

To that, Sakura looked horrified. He'd been protective enough over her the few times he'd needed to be-not more than an hour ago, he'd done his best to keep her out of harms way on the battlefield. To hear that he really killed people was quite jarring. "How could somebody want to hurt another person like that? To want to kill somebody?"

_"_Sometimes its an issue of power," Charlie explained. "I don't think that's his case. He isn't interested in power. I can remember my time at Shadaloo well enough to know that much. He's just snapped." His memories of Shadaloo were slightly hazy, but he still remembered quite a bit of it. Balrog and Sagat were fairly normal individuals. Balrog was a great businessman, as it turned out, and Charlie had to sit in on a few meetings in order to take care of things should they have taken a turn for the worse-which they usually did. But Balrog was fairly easy to understand. He was driven by financial gain, and little else interested him. Sagat was a little more complex. He wasn't what Charlie would now consider a bad person. He was a man simply down on his luck, stuck in a rut and trying whatever he could to get out of it. He almost felt bad for the man. But Vega was a different story.

_"_Well what made him snap?" Sakura asked. To that, no one had an answer. None of them knew him well enough to know if that was even the reason he did the things he did.

"Don't ask him," Ryu warned. He knew Sakura may mean well, but her curiosity could get her hurt. He didn't want her to end up setting Vega off accidentally by trying to figure him out a little better. It just wasn't worth it.

"Enough with the psychology crap," Guile said waving his hand. "We don't need to waste our time thinking about him anyway."

There was a noise outside, and the flimsy walls of the tent shivered violently for a moment. A shadow moved quickly by, and everyone began to realise that one of the dragons had just left. The sudden sense of alarm that Ryu felt tipped him off that it hadn't been Earth. "I think Vega and Fire just left," Ryu said, standing up and heading for the exit. A glance outside confirmed the suspicions, and only a confused-looking dragon remained. Already at a distance, Ryu could see Fire in the air, with Vega on his back.

"Where are they going?" Chun-Li questioned. Then she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Nevermind. Why do I care? I hope they stay gone until we need them for the world-saving part."

"Won't you need them tonight?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, hey wait!" Guile said. "That jackass is skipping out on us. I mean, screw him, but we could really use that dragon to get those people out."

_Be patient, _Water said. _If they do not return, we'll find them easily enough._

Charlie glanced back towards the horizon. It was difficult to tell the time through the thick, grey clouds, but nightfall couldn't be too far off by now. "If they aren't back in an hour, then we'll have to bring them back if at all possible."

"We'll get Air and all of those people back," Ryu responded with a nod. "With or without their help."

* * *

"So how do you do that tarot crap anyway?" Maya asked, glancing up from her laptop over to Rose, who was carefully laying cards in random spots on the table.

She closed her eyes and sighed, then looked up over at Maya on the couch. "Have a little more respect for it, or you won't understand it."

"Fine, whatever," she responded. "But come on. Is it real?"

"Not for everyone," she answered. "There are many frauds. But I am gifted with a rather unique ability. I am...a bit more 'in touch' with the world, and can better interpret what it has to say because of it."

"Right," Maya said, not really believing that answer. "What makes you so special?"

"You're aware of Bison's unusual capabilities?"

"Yeah, what do they call it... Psycho power? Pretty apt name for a guy like him," Maya responded.

"His power is rooted in negativity, and revolves around the power of the mind. It's too much for him, sometimes. The human body can't properly wield it, and degenerates every so often. A new one must be created because of this. Mine are similar, in some ways, but are more concerned with the spirit, and rooted in good. My body will eventually suffer the effects of this power, but not so quickly as his."

"So he has multiple bodies just sitting in a warehouse or...?"

Rose shook her head. "He creates them as he needs them," she responded. "He is very old. He does not look it, as he has effectively achieved immortality."

"Nobody lives forever," Maya responded.

Rose nodded in agreement. "His time will come. Just like all of us." Maya hadn't expected any visitors, but apparently Rose wasn't at all startled by the knock on the door, even being so kind as to warn the red-head moments before it happened. Things were getting fairly creepy for the CIA agent these days, and she just wanted to get it all over with. "It's Bison," Rose responded when Maya asked who it was. "He'll be looking for the machine."

"Bison?" Maya echoed. She didn't think things could get any stranger, but then, something like this always happened and she found herself questioning her sanity.

"Why do you bother with doors, beast?" Rose spat, loudly enough for the man to hear her on the other side of the wall. Taking that as an invitation for entrance, Bison appeared in a puff of sudden purple static, dressed casually, and ran a hand through his hair as he surveyed the surroundings. He hadn't sensed any other inhabitants, but it never hurt to take a look.

"If you insist," the man responded.

"Uh-uh," Maya said with a shake of her head. "Next time, you wait for somebody to let you in, got it?"

"I was trying to be polite," Bison responded. "But it seems as though some of us won't have that."

"Dressing up fecal matter doesn't make it any less unpleasant," Rose answered irritably.

"Testy," Bison said, but was uninterested in bickering with her. Instead, he cut straight to the point, asking, "Where is the machine? And where have the others gone to?"

"The machine is property of the United States government," Maya responded. "So, you don't really have a right to an answer to the first question. I don't know what happened to the other guys, but if you watched the news at all, you might have a clue."

"Show me," Bison said, raising an eyebrow. Maya sighed and rolled her eyes, queuing up the video of the security footage on the computer. It'd been a story featured in a lot of the evening news broadcasts in the area. So far it was still being called an elabourate and well-done hoax. Viral marketing for a new movie, maybe. It was all speculation at this point. She played the footage-a group of people in the middle of the mall, assuming defensive stances as some horrible dog-like creatures bounded towards them, when suddenly, three bigger animals appeared out of nowhere. Then, within a few seconds, they were all gone, and the dogs howled in frustration. A black mist was barely noticeable in the grainy footage, seeping out of the facial orifices, and the dogs shrank, reforming into regular sized, identifiable breeds. Then they walked away, sniffing around like normal as if nothing had ever happened. "What are those dogs?" Bison asked, pointing to them on the screen.

"No idea," Maya responded with a shrug.

"They are puppets," Rose answered. "Pawns of our opponent. He uses whatever is easy to manipulate. For now, it seems, he has used only animals. They are easiest to control, and lethal as well, when in his hands. But people are not out of his grasp."

"Who is 'our opponent'?" Bison questioned.

Rose shook her head. "I'm unaware at this time. The machine, however, has the answers. He refuses to explain anything further until the dragons and their counterparts have been brought to him."

"Do you think they've found the fourth?"

Rose tapped the table, where her spread waited to be interpreted. "All of them are together in a time of struggle. But I'm much more distracted by an impending disaster."

"What is it?" Maya asked quickly. She'd learned that Rose wasn't as much of a phony as she'd initially thought. The earthquake from before had been devastating, and if something like that was going to happen again, she had to know. She had a daughter to worry about, after all.

"The prevalence of the suit of cups indicates to me that water may be involved. That is all that I can tell," she replied.

"Floods," Maya stated. "We should get people to evacuate the coasts. To get away from rivers, lakes, whatever. Right?"

"Yes," Bison responded with a nod. "Go and tell your government officials that a gypsy has dealt a spread of tarot cards which may be indicating a water-related natural disaster, and as such, a massive evacuation of the coastlines is in order."

Maya pursed her lips and inhaled deeply. "At least I'm trying, asshole," she responded. Now she was worried. As brash as he had been in making his point, Bison was right. No one would believe them, even with all of the strange natural disasters going on. It was still snowing off and on, even in places that had no business ever seeing snow, and there had been several major earthquakes throughout the world. A state of emergency hadn't been declared just yet, which made Maya wonder just how much it was going to take before people started taking preventative measures in order to protect themselves. "I need to get my daughter out of the city," she said, closing up her laptop and stowing it into its bag. "I have family on the other side of the Appalachians she can stay with." She wasn't sure why she was telling either one of them this. Maybe it just helped her feel more in control to outline her plan. "Until all of this blows over."

"Warn and protect whoever you can," Rose said with a nod. "There is little else you can do at this juncture."

Maya slung the bag over her shoulder, leaving the hotel key on the desk, glancing down at Rose's cards. She had no idea where to begin interpreting them. That nasty looking monster in the middle didn't look like a good sign, though. "I'll meet back with the machine in the morning when I get back from the airport. If you want to see it, call this number," she said, jotting her cell phone number down quickly and leaving it on the table with Rose. She didn't really like the idea of Bison having a direct line to her, but Rose said he was resourceful enough to warrant having around in these troubled times, and was apparently on their side, for now. "I can arrange a meeting, but I want to have it moved to another building, if at all possible." She didn't want it to get damaged, either.

"Be safe," Rose said. She drew her brows together, and looked up as Maya left. She didn't want to tell the woman, but there was little she could do to ensure the safety of others. These disasters could strike anywhere, and were merely being suggested to her at the discretion of whatever greater power there was for her to listen to. She glanced at Bison, who was adding Maya's number to his own phone's contact list. "Why are you here?" she asked.

"I'm waiting for them to come back," he responded.

"You forget, Bison, that I can sense your true intentions," she replied. "I can feel your deception. But what it is you are trying to hide is still eluding me."

Bison smiled, not looking at the woman as he stood from the chair. "Ask your cards, then," he replied, leaving the woman to herself. She leaned into her palm and sighed. If only the answer could be that simple.


	21. Son of Perdition

"Are you _sure _I have to go to Grandpa's?"

Maya nodded, and said, "You're just taking a little trip for awhile. And when you get back to school, you can tell everybody about it."

But the little girl was not appeased. "What about you? Why aren't you coming this time?"

"I have to go to work. You know that," Maya answered. She didn't want to hint at anything that would cause even the remotest panic. "But I'll come out and see you. I promise."

That seemed to help, and the girl nodded before giving her mother one last hug and boarding the plane. Maya watched as long as she could before the girl disappeared from sight, and she frowned. She would be safe. Higher elevations wouldn't flood so easily. She kept going over all the different ways her daughter would be safer with her own parents instead of at home near the shore in an effort to reassure herself that parting with the child at this juncture was the best course of action. But could she be certain that Rose was even right in her predictions? She wasn't given too much time to ponder this when her phone began to buzz at her hip. With a sigh, she reached for it, spotting an unfamiliar number. "Ten guesses," she muttered to herself before flipping it open and answering it.

"You have the machine?" A male voice. Deep and commanding great authority.

"Hold your horses, _general_," Maya said contemptuously. She already regretted leaving her phone number behind with Rose, where Bison would inevitably record it himself. The one she'd given to S.I.N. was obviously an entirely different one than normal. She didn't want anyone in that organisation to be able to trace anything back to her civilian life. But she'd erased all of that effort in a moment of weakness. She'd been too worried about the possible natural disasters that could effect her child to think much of giving her number to Rose while Bison had been present. "I'm headed to the base to retrieve it now. If you want to speak with it before I relocate it, you'll meet me..." Quickly, she tried to think of where she could have such a meeting. How did she bring a seven foot tall android, a purple-haired gypsy, and the most wanted man in the world together without being noticed? She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger and sighed. She wasn't bringing them to her home. That much was for damn sure. "Well, I don't have a place in mind just yet. Besides, I don't really care if you get to talk with it. Rose is the one I promised the privilege to."

She could almost hear the smirk in Bison's voice as he responded. "You're failure to grasp the mechanisms which you don't understand is amusing. Rose and I-we share the same soul. Wherever she goes, I can find her."

"Good for you, gold stars all around," Maya snapped, fed up with this supernatural stuff. In a moment like this, especially. She had Bison on the phone with her right now-if she kept him on long enough to reach headquarters, then somebody could probably get a good idea of where he was and they could send a team-

But that would take a lot longer than she had, and she knew it. She had no idea how to keep the man on the phone for that long, but it was tempting to try. Rose's words about it being impossible to imprison him due to his unique abilities came back to her, and she sighed. It felt foolish not to at least try. "Fine, you want to see the machine? Come on down to the CIA building yourself. I know tons of people there who would love to meet you."

"I don't have time for games like that, and neither do you, if you care about your daughter's life."

"Is that a threat?" she responded icily, gripping her phone just a little bit harder.

"Not from myself, but from the machine's opponent. I am just as interested in solving this particular problem as anyone else who knows about it, and you'd do well not to hinder my progress." She bit her lip. She knew he was up to no good, even if he claimed to want to fix things. But could she put him away just yet? Was Rose right about them being unable to keep him captive? They were going to find out. "All right. There's a park not too far from where Rose stayed last night. It's got a little nature trail that circles a lake, with a few picnic areas nestled in some trees along the path. In this weather, there shouldn't be anybody there. We'll be there, at the one farthest from the entrance. I'll wait with it for twenty minutes. After that, you'll never see it again."

"Done," Bison said, and hung up the phone. So Maya made her next call.

"Got something for you," she said to the man on the other line.

"What? Better be good," the man snapped, plainly irritated. It was understandable. The workload had been pretty heavy lately.

"Well I just happen to know where a certain terrorist leader and most wanted man in the world is going to be in about half an hour," she said nonchalantly. "Just thought you'd like to get in on this."

"Holy shit, you've got to be kidding me," the voice responded, now fully interested in what Maya had to say. "Bison-that's, _Shadaloo_ Bison-is in America?"

"Get a team together," she said, and gave them the precise location and time of their meeting point. Today was going to be a busy day.

* * *

A sword would've been nice, but, he supposed one couldn't ask for everything. But the look on the men's face when the dragon dropped in the middle of the courtyard was plenty entertaining. Fire let out a roar, daring anyone to move. Intimidation, Vega felt, was key in a situation such as this. And now it was his turn. He dropped from the dragon's back, a vaguely human form glimpsed through a wreath of flames. "It's a warlock! They've sent a warlock!" one of the men screamed out. They began to form a line, some pathetic attempt at defense.

"_Silence!" _Vega shouted as loudly as he could. "You insult me with such a name! For I am the Morningstar, Son of Perdition, and you have invoked my wrath!" Some of the men dropped to their knees, bowing their heads in prayer as they begged for God to deliver them from the terror awaiting them. Vega had no interest in them, so long as they didn't ruin his plans. He pointed a flaming hand at the nearest man, and cried, "Bring me to the man you falsely claim as lord, for only then will I be appeased when I drag his soul back with me to the Pit!" Fire accentuated this demand with an earth-shattering roar, flames pouring out of his mouth.

The men were all too terrified to move. Vega frowned, wondering if he'd come on too strong or not strongly enough. Finally, after a few seconds, someone ran out of the courtyard and into the nearest door, hopefully in search of the lord of the manor. Vega surveyed the surroundings, searching for any possible assailants lurking in the rafters or anywhere else they could possibly hide. He couldn't see anything, but wouldn't take that as a comfort just yet. Finally, a man appeared, wrapped in furs and hesitant to step outside. Vega narrowed his eyes, and he felt suddenly nervous. He couldn't place why- even from here, he could see just how disgusting the man was. He was sickeningly thin, with missing teeth and thinning, graying hair. How this man had come into such a position of power was something he found himself struggling with. Surely a few magic tricks weren't enough to make a man so weak and frail the leader of a whole town? He definitely shouldn't have been making the blond so nervous, at the very least.

"Conjurer," Vega spat. "You have done a great evil to this town. You must be punished for it."

"How am I to know you're no deceiver yourself? Not simply some trickster in disguise sent from my enemy's camp?" the man ventured to ask.

"I am the greatest deceiver of all!" Vega shouted, flames erupting from him like solar flares from a star. The man stepped back, shielding his face. "I have laid in the garden with the first man and woman, brought sin to your world-there is no better deceiver than myself! Do you dare to question my power?"

The look of fear on the man's face was suddenly gone, and he grinned, causing the blond some confusion. Then, to cause further problems, the man threw his head back and laughed, straightening his posture, no longer seeming so fragile as before. "All those five long years you spent trying to convince men that you were not Lucifer and here you are proclaiming to be him?" the man said, shaking his head, amused. It was Vega's turn to be taken aback, and the nervousness had become outright anxiety. "Oh, but you must make up your mind sometime."

Unwilling to back down from the plan just yet, he replied, "Do not try to evade your punishment, fiend. I've come for your soul, and will take nothing less!" He intended for the man to beg for an ultimatum, which Vega would accept in the form of the dragon and prisoners. But things had taken a strange and sudden turn.

"Give it up already," the man responded. "Can't you see, we're on the same side? What do you care for the dragon, and those ridiculous people trapped here with her? For God's sake, boy, you're simply trying to prove a point to your rival! You care nothing for the well-being of any of them!"

Vega blinked rapidly, shaking his head slowly. How had the man known his motivations? Down to his spat with Chun-Li? Fire reared back, and said, "If you know our true intentions, you'd do well to surrender your prisoners."

"You care no more for their troubles than he," the man said with a shake of his head. "Creator of all, and they spit in your face, the most ungrateful of children. Why do you fight for them, lord? Forget them! They're worthless, down to the last one!"

"Be that as it may," Fire snarled, sensing something strange about the man and realising the failure of their plan, "I will not see my sister in captivity."

"Then the prisoners will die," the man said simply. He searched for one of his soldiers, but was hard-pressed to find one. The two had at least succeeded in isolating the strange leader from his men. He narrowed his eyes, then said, "I will do it myself, if I must."

Vega threw out a hand, tired of playing at this bizarre mind game, and landed a ball of fire just inches from the man's feet. "Let them leave here alive, or you won't."

"I don't fear you, boy. You're already mine," he spat.

Vega gritted his teeth in response, and attacked. The man seemed to be anticipating it, but could not do much to prevent it. His body was too weak, and he could do little to resist as Vega threw a punch that left his face severely burned. He stumbled back, was caught by the shoulders and thrown to the ground. He felt a heated weight against his chest as he was pinned to the ground by a boot. "You'll let them go, now."

The man coughed, but still laughed. "You don't seem to understand," he said, "that I've already won."

"Then you won't care if we take them," Vega snapped, delivering a fierce blow to the man's ribs with his boot. He tried crawling away, gasping for breath.

"Don't ever change," the man said through more laughter. Vega kicked him again, this time in the face, and then, the man stopped moving. He wasn't dead, but he would have an awful headache when he woke up, and painful burns.

"I have trouble believing that an entire manor fell to this old man," Fire murmured, watching the unconscious form closely. Vega glanced back at the unmoving man, and was surprised to see a black mist leaking out steadily through his nose, eyes, mouth, and ears. He'd seen this before the other night, when the machine had taken hold of the mutated bird.

"He wasn't just any old man," Vega responded quietly, watching as the mist disappeared on the air. He wasn't sure, exactly, what the mist was, but he knew that it couldn't be anything good. He turned his eyes back up to Fire, and said, "I think we're done here. Really, I don't see why that idiot couldn't do this on his own."

Fire curled his lips, teeth bared as he replied, "Too concerned with the well-being of others, much unlike yourself." He shook his head, and turned away, and for once, Vega felt a modicum of shame. But it was quickly replaced with a sense of accomplishment-he'd done something Charlie had failed to do on his own, and he'd be able to show Chun-Li how wrong she was in her assessment of him. Within a few minutes, Vega and Fire had found both the prisoners and Air, informed them of their freedom, and started the trek back to the camp they'd come from. The battle for the lives of the captives was over, a great relief coming to both sides of the fight.

As they finally approached the camp, Vega pulled the facial cover off. The wind and cold bit hard at his face when flying, and he certainly didn't want his skin drying out. He was impressed with himself this time. He tried to think of a time when he'd done a better job at proving someone wrong, but was having difficulty coming up with something. That was why he strutted so confidently towards the tent just as night was falling. Upon reaching the enclosure, he wished there was a door to knock on. It would make things a little more dramatic. Instead, he threw aside one of the flaps, and planted a hand on his hip as everyone turned around to see who was entering the room. "I ruined your plans for the evening," he said simply as he came in.

"Wait, what?" he heard Guile mutter. But Vega didn't respond, instead leaving the tent. He glanced up at the dragon who had aided him in this particular mission, and the dragon looked back, appearing to be as irritated as ever.

"You've too much pride, boy," the dragon said with a shake of his head.

"When one performs as greatly as myself, then it is deserved," Vega responded, crossing his arms as he waited for the others to come out of the tent.

Charlie came out in the lead, looking from Vega to Fire, then to the battlefield below. It was cleared. The dead were being identified or brought back to their respective sides. And ten relieved, dirty hostages stood in the campsite, some crying tears of joy at being reunited with husbands, brothers, or fathers. Everyone in the camp was beginning to realise what was going on. The others in the tent filtered out, laying eyes on the final dragon. She looked especially regal standing beside Fire, but still carried herself humbly. She wasn't scaly like Fire, nor did she have rubbery skin like Water, or even the pebbly hide that Earth had. Instead, plumage in shades of gold covered her. She looked over the assembled group before her, considering them quietly but still knowing already which were the ones she'd known many years ago.

"You brought them all back?" Sakura asked, staring in wonder at the newest dragon. Then she glanced over at Vega. This guy was too confusing to keep up with. One minute, he was a killer, the next, he was saving hostages. She didn't really know where to stand when it came to him, and things like this just made that confusion even worse.

"Of course. Not all of us enjoy standing around all day while innocent people suffer," Vega responded with a roll of his eyes, dissatisfaction lacing his voice. In truth, he didn't care much about the people he'd rescued one way or another. They were simply a tool, a means to an end. A very satisfying end. With that in mind, he eyed Chun-Li and said, "Or, do I only know how to _destroy _and know nothing about how to _protect_?"

She pressed her lips together, biting back a comment. She wouldn't give him that. She knew it was what he wanted. But if she complimented him, he'd still win. "Took you long enough to do it," she said, crossing her arms. "You were gone for an hour. I could've done it in half that"

Vega closed his eyes and curved his lips into a frustrated smile, putting a hand to the side of his head as he said, "How one stands to be around you without wanting to shove a blunt object into your hypothalamus is beyond me."

_"_I can not properly commend a selfish act performed under the guise of a selfless one," Air said, her voice light and wise. "You're true intentions are plain."

_He is the one I told you about, _Water said, as if exasperated.

_He smells bad, _Earth put in. Vega sighed and rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean, you 'told her about'?" Charlie asked. "When did you speak with each other last?"

"Is that where the three of you disappeared to?" Ryu questioned.

"We met on different planes," Air responded. "Our brother must be guided back from the dark."

Fire growled roughly at that. "I am no cynic," he snapped. They were obviously continuing a conversation which all of the others had been left out of. "I merely see these creatures for what they are. You're all too blinded by your desperation-your hope that they will yet fix themselves. But I've seen just what becomes of their kind."

"Don't give up on us!" Sakura cried. She didn't know what parts of the conversation she'd missed, or how it'd come to this, but she wouldn't stand for her entire species being thought of like that. She'd known too many good people for that. But her confidence waned as soon as that horned head swiveled round to find her, coal black eyes scrutinising and judging her without any attempt to hide that fact. "I...I just think-" She inhaled deeply, drawing her brows together slightly, and trying again. "You can't keep telling me that we as a species aren't worth saving. You helped makes us? Then you have to know that we don't give up! That even when some of us do bad things, or screw up, there are many more people out there doing it right. There's good in this world worth saving, and you shouldn't just write us off like that!"

"The girl is right," Air said. "For you, of all of us, should know of the resilience and compassion of the spirit, Fire."

The dragon drew back his lips, baring his teeth as he said, "Just as well as I know of the greed and lust for power."

"So a bad apple spoils the bunch?" Charlie asked, tilting his head and slinging his quiver over his shoulder. "I'd think you were smarter than that."

"Don't play games with me, boy!" the dragon snapped. "I've seen enough to be firm in my resolution. Your kind have been little else but a disappointment in my eyes."

"Then why are you still helping us?" Ryu said. "You must have some sort of hope."

"There's more to this planet than your species. I won't have everything destroyed," Fire answered with a sense of finality, ending the argument for now.

"Hey, all four of you are together now!" Sakura said excitedly. "Didn't the robot say he would talk to you guys when you were all together again?"

"That's right," Ryu remembered with a nod. "Maybe we should get going, so we can set everything straight."

_Where do we go? _Earth asked, tired, but prepared to take everyone where they needed to be. Ryu formed a picture of Guile's backyard in his head, and Earth recognised it quickly. Then, they were on the move.


	22. Adaptable

This shouldn't have been so nerve-wracking. She'd been involved in worse operations before. Working undercover in S.I.N. had been pretty intense, given that she could've been found out at any moment. It didn't help that the android was apparently pretty unsatisfied with her plans. "You will need him before the end of this," it said calmly. "And he will not be taken at all easily."  
She frowned. "Look, so far as I know, you could be some kind of bizarre plant on his part. Maybe I was supposed to find you, and get sucked into your silly little story. What do I know?" She crossed her arms, hearing footsteps on the paved road. "You better not say anything."

"I can not lie if a question is asked of me. Deceit is against the rules."

"General, just on time," Viper said, smirking. "I was just about to leave."

"How lucky for me that you decided to wait five extra minutes on my behalf," Bison responded as he approached. He glanced around. "Where is Rose?"

"I set a different meeting with her," Viper answered. It was true. She didn't want the Italian woman involved in what was about to happen-she might be detained for further questioning or some other hindrance might occur. As silly as she thought the gypsy crap was, she had a pretty direct link to Bison, and had that nifty 'disaster-predicting' quality. "You aren't invited."

"I'm hurt," he replied, now settling his eyes on the machine. "So you're the only one left? State your designation."

"I am unit number twenty-three, as designated by Shadaloo Intimidation Network scientist Dr. Richard Merlow."

"Have you developed the same bug as unit fifteen?"

"Self-awareness is not a bug, general," the machine replied.

"In a machine, it is," Bison responded with a nod. "However, you don't appear bent on world domination...which is an interesting little aberration."

"I want only to protect the world," it answered.

"From what?" Bison asked, a little curious.

"Anything that would befoul it."

As the two spoke, Maya took a step back, preparing herself for the rush that would come from the woods around them at any second now. They didn't really come out dramatically. The agents filtered out of the woods, weapons drawn and leveled at Bison. A few stepped in behind him, leaving him surrounded, but he didn't seem at all interested in them, continuing his conversation with the machine as it explained the game to him. "Have they all been brought back here?" Bison asked, ignoring the orders of the agents to put his hands on his head and get on his knees.

"They will be any instant now," the machine replied.

"What will they have to do when they arrive?"

"They must identify the opponent, and destroy it."

"You know who he is then, don't you?" Bison asked.

"We aren't going to ask again! Get on the ground, now!"

"I am not allowed to disclose that information."

"If you know, and want to protect this planet-!" Bison started.

The machine stopped him with a smile, and said, "Commander Vega said the same thing. Were you happy to see him again?"

"How do we identify this person?" Bison asked. There were billions of people on this planet-how could they be expected to find the one they were after?

Finally, one of the agents approached Bison, and attempted to grab his shoulder. The general did not respond with a warning, instead, grabbing the man by his wrist, flipping him over, and slamming him into the ground. A gun was fired-they were ordered to take him in anyway they could, given how lethal he was. The bullet was stopped midair, and Bison turned to face Maya. "I'm insulted," he said.

She cocked her head. "You've destroyed countless lives. What makes you think I'm going to let you walk away from here without a pair of cuffs on your wrists?"

"The fact that it simply isn't within your power never crossed your mind?" His eyes paled until they were completely white, and then, all of the agents fell back, as if shoved by something strong. "Next time you want to try to arrest me, bring something a little strong than handguns." And then he was gone, as if he'd never been there to begin with.

Maya groaned as she pushed herself to her feet, rubbing her head. She looked around, but didn't see him anywhere. "Damn it," she growled. "Do you know where he went?" She looked to the machine, waiting for a response.

"It does not matter," it replied. "You may yet need him before the end of this."

* * *

Cold was all they could feel. Sudden, biting cold as they treaded rough waters. The usual disorientation of the landing was increased several times over by being deposited into the water so suddenly, freezing rain pelting them from above. Ryu broke the surface, shaking his wet hair out of his face and then inhaled, looking around for the others. Sakura was clinging to Earth, who looked much like a dog paddling in a pool. Chun-Li was on Water's back, blinking salty seawater out of her eyes. A pair of black combat boots was kicking furiously at the air just beside Charlie, and the blond American was trying to reach for the owner of them. Guile was somewhere between laughing and coughing as he tried to dredge up whatever water he'd accidentally inhaled. "Earth!" Ryu shouted over the waves. "Why did you bring us here?"

_I don't know what happened... _he replied, a bit of fear present in his voice. _I thought there was land here!_

Ryu didn't like the sound of that. He looked around, and could see a shore not too far away. They could make it there easily enough. Fire and Air circled overhead, ready to fish their companions out if necessary. "Can you make it to the shore?" Ryu asked.

_I think so._ Ryu swam closer, and helped push Sakura onto the dragon's back. She was soaked to the bone, and freezing cold. "I felt something on my leg!" she cried. "It was gross!"

"Probably a fish or something," Ryu reassured her, keeping a firm hold on Earth as the dragon began to head for the shore. Ryu squinted at it. He wasn't certain, but it didn't look like there was any sand on the beach. It almost looked like the waves were crashing right on the pavement. But it had to be some kind of illusion. There was no way any city would put streets like that so close to the ocean.

"Somebody help me with this guy?" Charlie shouted out over the wind and waves. He was still trying to get to Vega, who couldn't seem to find his way to the surface. His booted feet were smacking the surface frantically now, sending water everywhere. "I can't quite-" And then Charlie let out a short cry before he disappeared under the waves.

"Hey!" Guile shouted. "Charlie!" He dove under without thinking, looking for his friend, but the water was so murky it was hard to see anything. He reached out a few times, but his hands never met anything. He swam back to the surface for air, throwing his head back to get his wet hair out of his eyes. "I can't see anything under there!"

Water dove under without another word, Chun-Li clinging to her tightly. She could see under the water pretty clearly, which was a surprise to her. What she saw was even more of a surprise. Beneath the waves, Vega wasn't struggling because he couldn't swim. There was a squid-like monster, twice his size, tentacles wrapped around his arms and torso. Another set was wrapped around Charlie's legs, which were still trying to kick furiously for the surface. She let out a brief scream, the noise catching the attention of the monster.

_Hold on! _Water commanded. The slimy arms of the monster shot out at her, but Water was fast, sliding beneath them with ease. She darted towards the thing, and crashed into it. From here, Chun-Li could see its freakish beak, stretched open wide. The mouth was full of teeth. It had to be, she figured, one of the monsters similar to the dogs and the bird. _Look for his blade! _Water instructed, looking up at Charlie. _Cut its arms away!_

Chun-Li reached for the struggling man, spotting a dagger on his belt. Her lungs were beginning to burn, and she would need to resurface soon. She wanted to tell this to the dragon, but couldn't speak. So she tried the telepathy, which Ryu claimed to work. _I can't hold my breath much longer! _she thought, focusing on that one thought and aiming it at the dragon.

_Then breathe, _Water said as if it were obvious.

_Take me up!_

_You can filter the oxygen out of the water!_ the dragon replied quickly. _But they can't. Please, hurry! _Both Vega and Charlie were beginning to have a harder time struggling, fighting the urge to inhale. Chun-Li wasn't sure if she should risk trying to breathe, but she couldn't go on much longer without air. She finally reached the dagger, and with that, inhaled tentatively, feeling water slide down her windpipe. It was uncomfortable, but when it hit her lungs, it was just as the dragon had said-she suddenly felt like she was breathing regular air again. Violent shakes below her made her aware that she didn't have much time to ponder this particular miracle, and she got right down to it. Dagger in hand, she started cutting away the tentacles wrapped around Charlie's legs. They weren't thick, which made this easy for her. But more seemed to shoot out, this time trying to get around her wrists and arms. She let out a cry as the creature succeeded in grabbing her wrist. She pulled hard, trying to hand the dagger off to her other, free palm. Finally, she cut the squid's arm away, quickly ripping away the dismembered limb. Water struggled to keep her claws sunk into the creature for stability in the process. With one final slice, Charlie was free, but disoriented. He kicked a little-but wasn't headed for the surface. She glanced from him to Vega, who was still wrapped up and barely fighting at all anymore. Charlie obviously needed help getting to the surface, but Vega was still trapped. There was no way she was giving up Charlie's life for Vega's. But they allegedly needed the latter as much as the former. Would she be jeopardising the safety of humanity by playing favourites, regardless of how obvious a choice it should've been?

_Get Charlie back to the surface, _Chun-Li thought to Water. Without arguing, the dragon slid out from under Chun-Li, and caught Charlie by the shoulders, racing for the surface. He would be okay, she reassured herself.

She turned her attention to Vega now, which gave her a new sense of urgency. He wasn't fighting anymore, and his eyes had drifted shut. Quickly, she reached over, and started cutting away each of the arms. Vega wasn't trying to get away. She reached for his wrist, and pulled on him. After cutting away a few more tentacles, she freed him completely, pushed him upward, and then drove the dagger right between the squid's enormous eyes. It screeched, a muffled sound as bubbles of air floated out of its beak. Blood seeped out from around the wound, accompanied by something black. She pushed off of the squid, took hold of Vega under the arms, and swam away without looking back. She spotted Earth's great hoof-like feet, and headed for them, surfacing next to him. Guile had an arm draped over Water's back, Charlie on top of her heaving breaths and coughing. Vega's sudden weight was harder for Chun-Li to handle above the water, but she kicked as hard as she could to keep moving, pulling one of his arms over her shoulder and grasping his shirt with the other. She panted hard, happy they were finally nearing the shore. She tried to keep her head above the waves crashing on them, squeezed her eyes shut out of habit. She gasped for air, glancing at Vega, who was still unmoving. She gritted her teeth. They weren't going to die over him. She kicked furiously, and another wave crashed into them. She lost her grip on him, and they both disappeared under the turbulent water again. She felt a rough, hard surface scrape her hands, and realised it was the shore. The wave had carried them the rest of the way. She stood up, the water only reaching her knees, and she looked around for the one she'd been carrying.

Heaving breaths at this point, she moved towards Vega, and hooked her arms under his, pulling him out of the water. "Hey!" she said to him. "Hey, you...you jerk! Get up!" She pushed away the blond hair plastered to his face, and pried open one of his eyes, knowing that if anything would bother him, it would be her touching his face. They were rolled back into his head. She tilted her head, then smacked him in the face. It wasn't as satisfying as she'd thought it would be. "Vega wake up!" She put a hand under his nose, and didn't feel his breath on her fingers. She groaned, not liking the idea of resuscitating a serial murderer, even if it was for the good of humanity. Placing both hands on his chest, she pushed on him roughly. The sound of beating wings caught her attention, and the two flying dragons who'd circled over the water landed near her. Water reached the shore next, and both Charlie and Guile headed for Chun-Li immediately upon reaching the shore.

"What happened under there?" Guile asked. Earth finally reached land, and Ryu and Sakura jogged to catch up with the others.

"Some squid..monster thing," Chun-Li responded quickly. She tilted Vega's head back, pinched his nose, and pressed her mouth to his, exhaling. She repeated it once more. She groaned again as he still wasn't moving. "Can't any of you do anything?" She didn't want the world to end because of him.

"We can't give life back to those who have lost it," Air responded.

"If he dies, we're all screwed aren't we?" Guile questioned. Chun-Li nodded, frantically pressing on Vega's chest. She'd learned CPR in training at Interpol, but hadn't ever had to use it until now. She never thought she'd be using it on him. She pinched his nose again, put her mouth to his and then-

She was seized by the shoulders, surprised by the sudden movement of the man below her. He shoved her away as he shot up into a seated position. Coughing violently, he pushed her again half-heartedly, choking out the words, "Don't...ever...touch me...again!"

"You could at least _pretend _to be grateful," Chun-Li muttered angrily as she pushed herself to her feet.

He rubbed his burning eyes irritably. He didn't like the idea that he owed her something. She'd hold it over him for the rest of his life, however short it may be at this point. Drawing a hand over his face one last time to get rid of some of the moisture, he glanced around at their newest surroundings. Why the dragon had dropped them off in the middle of an ocean this time was beyond him. The thing was an idiot, he presumed, and all of this time travelling was simply making it dumber.

"Are you all right?" Charlie asked him.

"Fantastic," the blond muttered, pushing himself to his feet.

"So where are we?" Ryu asked, looking around at the buildings. The surroundings were beginning to make him feel nervous. He'd thought Earth had brought them all back to their original time, but that couldn't be the case. The water level had risen-that much was certain. The place was flooded, but it didn't look like it'd been this way for years. The models of some of the cars were pretty modern. Everyone took a second to really get a good look at their surroundings. It was a few minutes before someone had an answer.

"Jesus Christ, this can't be right," Guile said quickly, turning in a circle to better study the homes around them. He put a hand to his head as the harsh reality dawned on him. "This is my home! This is our neighbourhood! But...shit!"

"We need to find out what's happened here," Ryu said. "Maybe we aren't in the right time yet."

"No, no, no," Guile said, waving his hands. "If we time-travelled again, we're leaving now. No more mutants or armies or whatever! Just _gone_."

"I agree," Chun-Li said with a nod.

"This is your time," Fire responded, searching the flooded city for signs of life. "But something's gone wrong."

"What is it?" Sakura asked. "Is it everywhere, or just here?"

"Everywhere," the dragon answered solemnly. He pushed off the street, rising into the air.

_The seas have risen, _Water added, though she knew Sakura and Guile couldn't hear her. The information could be beneficial to the others who could, however. _All over the world, coastlines have been swallowed up..._

"Julia and Amy are in Florida..." Guile whispered suddenly. "My family. My home. Everything..."

Charlie put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure they're fine," he tried, although he knew it wouldn't be much help. Florida was practically an enormous beach, and if the amount of excess water here was any indication, the entire state could be submerged. "I'm sure everyone had plenty of warning before anything happened..." He couldn't be certain of that, either. And Guile probably knew that.

"I have to get to a phone. Now." All he could think about was getting home to his family and making sure they were all right. If he was lucky, the phone lines would still be working here and he could call Julia's phone. He regretted getting caught up in all of this entirely. "No offense to you guys, but I don't care whether you come with me or not. There's a gas station not too far from here, and there's bound to be a payphone."

"We should stay with you," Chun-Li said. "Everyone's probably evacuated from here, and we can't leave you behind."

"Ryu..." Sakura said quietly, suddenly realising that America may not be the only place effected by the rise in water levels. "What about our home?"

The Japanese man was silent, unsure of what to say. He didn't want to give her false hope. But he couldn't just tell her that many people had probably died. The flooding would have had to be sudden. "I'm sure everyone's okay. You'll see," he said with a nod. "Try not to worry. When we get to that phone, you can make a few calls of your own."

"If this is everywhere, my apartment's probably gone, too...I hope everyone's okay," Chun-Li said, pressing her lips together. She didn't know too many people back in China, as she traveled so frequently, but did hope everyone-or as many people as possible, made it out alive. There were still plenty of people elsewhere to worry about, though.

"Well," Vega said, crossing his arms. "I suppose I don't have to worry about those three months worth of late payments anymore..."

"Oh, yes," Guile said, nodding. "What a relief! All those thousands of people dead, but at least you don't have to worry about late fees! _Jackass._"

"I'm _trying _to be optimistic!" Vega replied with a sigh.

Charlie frowned. "That's not how you do it," he said. His home-whether it was still his or not after all this time, he was unsure-was farther inland, and he was happy for that. But he still felt sad over the many people who would've lost everything, even their lives, in some cases.

"We should get going," Ryu said quietly. Now he was becoming worried. He was trying to figure out how this had happened, going over a list of possible things that could cause the sea levels to rise so severely and so quickly. It was very likely that whatever caused it was related to whatever they were fighting against.

Guile was already headed towards the gas station, however, not bothering to wait around. It was an understandable response. He had a lot to lose, and couldn't stand being left without knowing where his family was. He frowned at the thought. He'd gained one friend back, and in return, he may have lost his family. He walked quicker, a little more upset now. The others followed behind him.

"Do you think everybody left?" Sakura asked, glancing around at the houses. The neighbourhood was very quiet, no cars driving around, no one playing outside. Granted, it was a bit of a nasty day. Grey clouds still hung low in the air, and the wind was up. The rain had stopped, at least.

"Probably evacuated, like Chun-Li said," Charlie responded with a nod. "I can't imagine people would stay in their homes in a situation like this."

"At least they don't have to hide," Chun-Li said, nodding towards the dragons. Earth plodded along steadily ahead, Water beside him. Air and Fire had disappeared overhead, nearly vanishing into the low-hanging clouds. "I don't think the general population would be all that happy to see them."

They walked a little while longer, Charlie catching up with Guile up front, trying to distract him from his worries. Earth and Water followed, Chun-Li, Ryu, and Sakura behind them, and Vega bringing up the rear. They reached the gas station, and no cars were around. Nothing was in the parking lot, and none were even driving on the road in front of it. "This is ridiculous," Guile huffed as he shook the doors. They were locked, and there weren't any phones outside. "Come on!" Guile pounded a fist on the glass door, and then sighed. He turned around, running a hand through his hair as he thought of what to do next.

Vega, meanwhile, stepped up to the glass, put his hands on it, and there was a noise as he applied sudden, intense heat and the glass cracked. He took a step back, then kicked the cracked area, causing the glass to fall into the building. He gave a few more kicks, each time taking out more and more glass. "Stop your pouting," Vega said to Guile with a shake of his head.

"Well..thanks, I guess," Guile responded, ducking into the building.

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm thirsty and hungry, and there's food in there," Vega replied, following behind him.

Sakura exchanged uneasy glances with Ryu. "Should we...?" she ask, nodding inside. She was hungry, but was it okay to steal in a situation like this? Ryu was debating this himself. He easily could've broken the doors open, but that would normally be considered wrong. But then, this was a bit of an emergency, and Guile needed to get in contact with his family. And if a few bags of chips went missing along the way, would it be so terrible?

So Ryu nodded to Sakura. "I think it's okay, but only this once," he said. "The place probably has some kind of insurance."

"Be quick," Air advised. "We must hurry to fix the things that have gone wrong, before something else happens."

Everyone filed in, keeping Air's warning in mind. Guile headed straight for the register, knowing a phone was bound to be there somewhere. He hopped over the counter, and found it sitting near the wall. He prayed for a second, knowing very well that phone lines could be down, picked it up and held it to his ear. "Hot damn!" he cried with a grin. "I've never been so happy to hear a dial tone in my life!"

Charlie grinned as he snagged a bag of chips off the shelf. "Give your lady a ring, then."

Guile was already on it, dialing his wife's cell phone number. It rang twice before Julia picked up. "Hello?"

"Julia?"

"Will! Oh my God, are you okay? Where are you?"

He laughed, relieved just to hear the sound of her voice. "I'm back home, just a few miles from the floodline. Where are you? Are you and Amy safe?"

"We were in the air when the flood happened, so we're all right, but we're in Knoxville. They rerouted the flight. I'm so relieved that you're okay-I've been trying to call you for hours now."

"I know, I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "I left my phone in the house and, well, it's been a hell of a day. I'm just so glad you're both all right."

"And you," Julia replied, relieved. "I can't believe what's happening. All of these earthquakes, the snow, the floods...I'm a little scared about what's going to happen next."

Guile glanced up at the others. For the most part, everyone was listening in on his conversation. He knew everyone but Vega would be concerned for his family's well-being, and the Spaniard was standing off to the side, pretending to be completely absorbed in the ingredients label on the bottle of water he was holding. It was plain as day, however, that he was listening as well. "Me too. I'm going to get to you guys as soon as possible, okay? Have you talked to anybody else lately?"

"Yeah, I managed to get ahold of Eliza."

"They're all right?"

Julia laughed. "You know Ken. When it started snowing, he told her to pack her bags for a weekend of skiing in Colorado. They weren't in California when it happened."

"Talk about adaptable," Guile muttered with a slight smile, shaking his head and looking over at Ryu. He could see Sakura looked a little bothered, and realised she wanted to use the phone, too. "But, look, I've got to let a few other people make some phone calls, okay? But mark my word, I'm heading to Knoxville right away. I'll call you again when I get a flight."

"Make it quick," she said. "There's no way to know if things are going to get worse."

He grimaced, and said his good-byes before hanging up. After a few seconds of silence, he looked up at the others. "Well, whose next?"

Chun-Li made a few calls to neighbours and friends, but the people she cared about most were all accounted for at this point. Only one of them picked up, reporting that the area they lived in hadn't been damaged too badly. It was a slight relief. Ryu was in much the same situation as Chun-Li. He already knew his dearest friends were safe. Sakura took the phone and made her own calls. Her parents were frantic, and the girl nearly broke into tears upon hearing how worried they were over her. She made sure they knew she was safe, and learned through them that the coastal areas of Japan were completely submerged. It was shocking to hear, but she still felt relief that she lived in a mountainous region. While there was no strict order to do so, most people were leaving the islands for inland regions of other countries. They told her to come back home with them, and hesitantly, she said she would. She wanted to be with her family-but she had to help Ryu and the others as well. It was a difficult choice to make, but she knew she would have time to ponder it. The nearest airport was quite a walk, after all. She hung up the phone, and looked to Charlie. "Do you need to call anybody?"

"I've been considered dead for awhile now, kiddo," Charlie said with a shrug and shake of his head. "I don't want to get anybody's hopes up until all of this is over with and I know I'm here to stay."

Sakura glanced at Vega hesitantly. "Do...you...?" The way he glared back at her made her uncomfortable, which made her feel pressured to continue talking. "I'm sure...your mom..or dad...or family is missing you...I mean-"

"Spare me that shit," he muttered, and left the building. Sakura inhaled slowly, unsure of what she'd done wrong. Chun-Li put a hand on the distressed girl's shoulder for comfort.

"Don't let him get to you," she said gently.

Sakura nodded in response. The day had taken a very emotional turn, with the flooding, the possibility of losing her family, and now being snapped at for trying to be friendly. But she wasn't going to get upset over this. She had plenty to be happy for-her family was safe, and her friends were, too. So, one more time in order to put herself in a better mood, she breathed deeply, and said, "So, where to next?"


	23. Gargoyle

"That wasn't very nice."

She smirked and rolled her eyes at the sound of the voice as she approached her car. The general was waiting there, leaning against the passenger side door with his arms crossed over his chest. This should've surprised her, but it didn't. "I don't play nice when it comes to people like you," she said. Dealing with him was frustrating. He'd been right there-they _had_ him. And then in a puff of smoke, he was gone. But here he was again, and she knew if she called for backup, he'd be gone before she even finished her sentence.

"I was promised a conversation with that machine. My machine, by the way. You've stolen it," he said, wagging a finger at her.

"You had your conversation," Maya responded. "Now poof your way out of here." She headed for her car door, ready to leave. She didn't like being near this guy. It wasn't just the fact that he was a remorseless killer with a god complex. He was also a reminder that she'd had the chance, but failed to capture him.

"It would be most wise to do so," the machine said passively.

"Spurned by my own creation?" Bison asked, raising an eyebrow, mocking offense. But then, a sound caught their ears. It sounded like a dull roar at first, but the closer it got, the louder it became.

"What the hell is that?" Maya whispered, looking towards the direction of the steadily increasing noise. They received their answer in the form of a wall of water, rushing its way between buildings, through the streets, a deadly, unstoppable force. She took only a second to realise that she wasn't going to outrun it in her car, and tried to figure out what to do when suddenly, she was no longer at the park anymore. The noise of the water was far away again, and she looked around, confused. She was on the roof of a taller building, and from her vantage point, could see the park currently being flooded by the wave.

"Things are getting worse." The voice distracted Maya from the wave. It had been Rose. But where had she come from?

"How did you-?" Maya started to ask, but realised she wasn't sure what she wanted answered first-how Rose got here, or how she got here.

"Bison used my location to find a safe place to transport himself, and the machine," she replied with a sigh, giving a sidelong glance at the general who was following the path of the water with his eyes. "I brought you here, as he couldn't be bothered."

Maya frowned. "Thanks a lot," she muttered. If it hadn't been for this gypsy, there was a good chance she'd be drowning by now. Bison had left her there to die. But that didn't surprise her. She probably would've done the same for him.

"We must get things moving," Rose said, sounding a little frustrated. "Tragedies by earth and water have now taken countless lives. I do not want the world to suffer the next...or there may not be much left at all to save."

"What would that be?" Maya asked, anxious now about leaving her daughter. She figured the girl would be safer in the higher elevations and the sparsely populated area. But now she was beginning to wonder.

"Fires will burn, gales will blow," the machine said. "All of the pieces are assembled. It is time to teach them the rules of the game."

* * *

The walk to civilisation was long, cold, and nearly unbearable for all involved. The dragons were hesitant to follow their companions for too long, knowing that they had been forgotten about long ago. They didn't trust mankind to receive them with a positive attitude, and so, stayed behind where they would not be found until they were ready. The group would be splitting up at the airport. Guile would be heading west to his family. Sakura would be going to China, where her family had fled to during the disaster. Then Ryu, Chun-Li, Vega, and Charlie would continue their mission until it was completed. Though, none of them really knew just what to do next.

"Are we getting closer?" Sakura asked, pointing up ahead at the bright yellow caution tape and road blocks set up in the street.

"Well, it's still a bit of a walk," Guile said. "Everything behind us is evacuated, but maybe there are still people on the other side of those blocks."

Chun-Li glanced around, but still didn't really see any people. "A lot of people have left," she said. Even as they passed by shopping centers and other buildings, the parking lots were all nearly empty.

"I know there's a bus stop up ahead," Guile remembered with a nod. "Anyone have any change?" He looked around, then remembered who he was talking to. Everyone had been dragged into this by surprise, and was not exactly prepared enough to have money on them. He felt his pockets for his own wallet, and remembered he'd had it to help the others buy some new, more suitable clothes. He had a few twenties that he could break, if they found a store that was open. None of the others would have had money on them anyway, not that he was upset by that. They couldn't help it. "I have a twenty. Fare is two bucks a person. Let me find somewhere to change this out, then we can get to the airport."

They all followed Guile from building to building in search of one that still had people working inside. There weren't many left, and finally, he found a drugstore willing to change the bill. From there, it was simply a matter of finding a bus stop. Everyone was cold and miserable. Their wet clothes felt heavy, and the low temperatures made their movements sluggish. Guile reassured Ryu and Chun-Li that there was going to be a stop 'any minute now', while Charlie trailed behind them, shaking his head. He knew Guile better than any of them, and could tell he was simply trying to give structure to a situation that didn't have any. Sakura fell behind, having to slow a considerable amount to finally fall in step next to Vega who was barely paying attention to the amicable arguments going on ahead. He didn't notice Sakura next to him until she spoke. "I'm sorry I upset you."

He raised an eyebrow, a little startled at the apology. "Why would you apologise to me? Never apologise to anyone," he responded.

"I offended you, somehow," she replied quietly. "And apologising just means I'm trying to make up for it."

"It doesn't mean anything."

She frowned, unsure of how to respond to that. How far was she supposed to go to make up an offense to someone? Especially when it was someone like him? She'd always been taught that if you'd done something wrong, you needed to answer to it. "I made you pretty mad. So...if sorry won't work, then I have to find another way to fix what I did wrong, right?" She smiled, content with her conclusion, and so revealed it to him. "Then I'll do something to make you happy."

"You're crazier than they think I am," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Well, just wait, okay?" she replied. "I'll find out how to do it."

"I _am _the bad one here."

"Then you need something to make you happy even more than I do."

He stopped walking for a brief second, drawing his brows together, at an utter loss of how to reply. Then, he gritted his teeth, and caught up with her. "If you're pitying me-!"

She shook her head. "I'm not," she replied simply. "But, well..." She hesitated at first, fairly certain he was going to take what she was about to say as an offense. "Bad guys aren't really used to being treated nicely. And I thought, maybe, if they'd had that a little more often, then they wouldn't be so bad to begin with."

"I'm not _bad. _I simply employ a mode of thinking that your friends happen to disagree with," he responded, nodding towards the others ahead of them.

"Killing people should be bad in every mode of thinking," she said quietly.

"You would kill a man in a war to protect what you love or believe in," he answered.

"Then what is it that you believe in or love so much that you think it's okay for you to kill people?" Sakura asked, confounded. She could imagine, maybe, if there was some kind of war. People fighting for their country, their fellow man, for freedom from oppression-all of those seemed noble. But Vega, she was sure, was not in any such situation. He didn't respond. She wondered if he even had an answer. With a frown, she said, "Well...at any rate, it doesn't matter if you're bad or good. If you do a person wrong, you make it up to them."

"Do you really think some silly little apology or a promise of repentance can just repair everything?" he nearly snarled at her. The fierce tone startled her, and she took a step away from him without thinking. "You're too old for that sort of thinking! The world is a _very _cruel place, _florecita_. You aren't going to fix it. Neither are they. And you can all stop pretending that you have that kind of power."

Sakura sighed quietly, feeling defeated and helpless. She could see why Chun-Li had adopted such a negative attitude towards this man. At first he'd seemed so charming. But he was really quite bitter. And, apparently, did not value human life much at all. She wanted to ask him why he felt that way. There had to be a reason. She couldn't imagine a perfectly normal person deciding one day that it was okay to kill. But at the same time, she couldn't imagine the sorts of things that would drive a normal person towards that decision in the first place. "Well...I just hope, one day, that you get better." She decided it might be best to stop this conversation before she angered him again, and trotted back up to fall in step beside Charlie, leaving Vega behind to contemplate this bizarre little girl who had hope for him.

It took half an hour, but finally, the group found a bus. They were the only people on it. Guile frowned at that. Images like this empty bus in the middle of a weekday were what really drove the reality of this situation home. How many people had lost their homes and livelihoods? Coastlines all over the world were obliterated, according to one of the dragons. Were they accurate in that statement? In the blink of an eye, so much was destroyed. And would it get worse from here? He didn't want to think about it, changing his focus to his family who were safe and well. He was lucky for this much.

Even the airport, when at last they arrived, was nearly empty. However long ago this had happened, people must've fled immediately after. The small group wandered through the airport in search of the telephones. Chun-Li glanced around, surveying the normally crowded airport. She'd come here enough times to know that this lack of people was very unusual. She smiled a little as she remembered the first time she came here with her father. Had it really been nearly ten years ago? It was the first time she'd ever met Guile, who her father had been working a case with. She looked around, trying to remember the gate she'd come out of. Hadn't it been these very rows of seats that she sat in with her father, waiting for the American to come pick them up? Her father had made some sort of joke about how he hoped they hadn't been forgotten about.

And then, quite suddenly, there he was, and her breath caught in her throat. She blinked once, as if to rid herself of the bizarre and disturbing sight, but he was still there. Dressed as he usually did in a suit, but it was stained with his blood in a few different places, the dark red standing out plainly against the white of the shirt. He looked up at her, eyes a solid black, blood trailing from the corners of his lips. "_Wǒ kàn guò nǐ de zuòpǐn..." _She was uncertain of how she could understand him so clearly from this distance, and he spoke barely above a whisper. She shook her head, as if to make him disappear. It was hard seeing him like this, bloodied and ghoulish. "_Wǒ bùshì nǐ de biǎoxiàn gǎndào gāoxìng._" He shook his head as she spoke, and she parted her lips to compose a response when she heard Sakura exclaim, "This place is sooo creepy when it's this empty!"

She was grateful for the disturbance. When she looked away in Sakura's direction, the phantom image of her father disappeared. Only part of her was disappointed in that, but from the way he was speaking, she didn't want to hear too much of what he would have had to say. She rubbed her eyes, and sighed, a little shaken up. This was, she thought, certainly just a side-effect of exhaustion. She turned away from the row of chairs, and looked for her friends, who'd found their way to the phones.

Guile was already dialing Julia's cell phone again. She picked up nearly immediately this time, and he could tell right away that something was wrong. He felt anxious over the tone in her voice as she reassured him that she and Amy were all right, and asked when he would be arriving. He asked her then, "What is it? Something's the matter."

She was quiet for a minute, and then sighed. "Will...Ken's gone missing."

He frowned. "Are you sure about that? Maybe he just took an unannounced outing." It wouldn't have been the first time. Ken had a habit of getting distracted pretty easily, and had sometimes arrived late to dates and other meetings, and on more than one occasion missed them altogether.

"Eliza called me. She was...horrified. I'd never heard her sound so frantic," Julia explained.

"Well what happened? What did she say?" Guile asked, a little more concerned now.

"She said-" Julia stopped here and sighed again. "You aren't going to believe me. But this _is _what she said. A thing that looked like a gargoyle broke into their hotel room through the window and kidnapped him."

His heart dropped. If he hadn't met the dragons in his backyard that morning, hadn't seen that freakish bird creature in his own home, hadn't seen those mutated dogs in the mall, didn't know way too much about this impossible situation unfolding around him before he'd even had time to finish his coffee, then he wouldn't have believed her. He would have assumed that Eliza was sick in the head, or on drugs. Or maybe that Julia was pulling some kind of prank. But no. He knew what this had to be. "Gargoyle, huh?" he asked, trying to appear a little skeptical. It would alert Julia if he believed this story right away. "Did she give a better description?"

"She said it moved too fast and erratically to get a good look. She remembered big wings, like a bat, and it had an ugly face, a piggish nose, either big ears or horns, she isn't sure, and it had glowing purple eyes, apparently. It picked him up with its feet, and dragged him out of the room," Julia explained.

A bat. Another mutated animal, Guile thought. It had to be. It sounded close enough to a bat but bizarre enough to fit the profile of the other two mutated things. But why had it taken Ken? The last two seemed to be after them specifically. "Is she all right?" Guile asked.

"Well, as you could imagine, she's pretty upset. She was crying the entire time we talked, said the police didn't believe her. They're looking for Ken, but they didn't believe her about the gargoyle."

"I'd imagine they wouldn't," he replied. "I mean, it's a pretty outlandish story."

"You don't believe her?" Julia asked, sounding a little offended.

"I don't know yet," he said. "Do you?"

Julia was quiet again. "...I want to. But it is pretty strange, I guess. But why would she lie?"

"Maybe she had a bad nightmare, woke up, and Ken was missing," Guile offered. "Maybe she's confusing the dream for reality."

"Maybe," Julia said, though he could tell she didn't really agree by her tone. "Do you think they'll find him?"

"Of course," he said without thinking. Truthfully, he couldn't be sure. The dragon said they couldn't fight the mutants before, and Ryu punched it with a fistful of rocks and Vega shot it with enough heat to make the lacquer on the wood floor boil. He was beginning to become very concerned for Ken's safety, and as much as he wanted to see his family, he knew he'd have to put it off to help his missing friend. Inhaling deeply, he continued, knowing Julia wasn't going to like this at all. "But...I think I should help look for him."

"Will, no, you need to come here with us," she protested.

"He's one of my best friends," he responded. "I don't want what happened to him to happen to Charlie. I just can't let that happen again."

Julia sighed, knowing she was defeated in this. "Please...just come back to us before something else goes wrong."

"I'll bring Ken back with me and we'll make an evening of it," he said. "In the meantime, maybe you should have Eliza stay with you guys. Maybe it'll make her feel better."

"She's already headed here. I wish you were."

He frowned. He hated it when she did stuff like this. But he could see her side to it. She was just concerned for him. "You don't have to worry," he said. "We'll get him back, just watch." They exchanged final good-byes, and he hung up the phone. Inhaling deeply, knowing that Ryu wasn't going to take this very well, he turned around and faced the group he'd come here with. They were waiting patiently just a few feet away, giving him some privacy while he was on the phone. He headed over to them, and Chun-Li noticed first that something was wrong.

"You don't seem very happy," she said quietly, a little worried.

He didn't want to beat around the bush. "Ken's gone missing. Something took him from his hotel room."

"What?" Ryu cried. "Who did it?"

"We don't know. Eliza said it was a gargoyle," he replied evenly, glancing around to gauge their reactions. Charlie was the only one who looked confused by that.

"A gargoyle?" he echoed.

"It's one of the monsters," Sakura explained. "We've seen them before-a mutant bird, and some dogs too."

"But why would it take Ken?" Chun-Li asked.

"It doesn't matter," Ryu said fiercely. "When I find it, I'm not giving it, or whoever sent it, one second to explain anything."

"So where do we need to go to get to the bottom of this?" Charlie asked.

"Are you all forgetting that we have a world to save, apparently?" Vega questioned, speaking up for the first time.

"Ken needs us to help him," Ryu replied.

"The longer we wait, the more likely some other major natural disaster is going to occur," Vega protested. "There's been unseasonable cold, destroying much of the world's food supply. Major earthquakes, killing thousands worldwide. And then these floods have happened, killing many more. Do you think all of this is just coincidence? This is what we're trying to stop, and the longer we wait, the worse it could get."

"We can't just leave him to that thing!" Ryu answered, throwing out a hand. "Who knows what it's going to do with him! We have to help him!"

"So one life is now more important than millions? Possibly billions?" Vega asked. "Tell me, I thought you were all the ethical sort. Are you going to risk the extinction of the human race for one person?"

Without another word, Ryu seized Vega by the collar, and spun around, slamming him into the wall. "A person we _care _about. You wouldn't know anything about caring for someone so much that you'd do anything to save them," Ryu growled out through gritted teeth. The tips of his fingers had begun to turn rough and petrous, creeping up his arms.

Vega glared back at him, daring the Japanese man to throw a fist and justify a fight. "Not at all," Vega replied venomously.

"Ryu, come on," Charlie said, holding up a hand. "This is just taking up more time that we could be using to find Ken."

"At each other's throats again already?" All eyes made their way over to the unwelcome voice, and Bison crossed his arms as he surveyed the group. They were all still in one piece, though looking worse for the wear. He smirked at the sight of Charlie, dressed quite archaically in his soaked breeches, boots, and tunic.

"How did you know we were here?" Guile asked, mystified at how they always managed to show up at the worst times.

"The four of you have some of the strongest auras I have ever witnessed in my life," Rose said, indicating the quartet in question.

"He's a pretty big help, too," Maya said, jerking her thumb in the machine's direction.

Ryu let go of Vega slowly, now focused on the newest annoyance to wander its way into his life. There was Bison, with Rose, the machine, and the woman he knew primarily as Viper. "What do you want this time?" Ryu asked. They didn't have time for this.

"The four of you are together now," Rose answered, sensing the great amount of agitation coming from Ryu. It was unusual, considering his normally calm disposition. "But...something's wrong, isn't it?"

"Some monster took Ken," Sakura said quietly.

"We have to get him back," Ryu said, leaving no room for argument.

"A monster?" Maya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"In order to retrieve your friend, you must continue with your mission," the machine said. "You and he have the same enemies now."

"Why would it go after Ken?" Chun-Li asked. It seemed to makes sense that this 'enemy' would go after the four of them-they were the only ones that could stop it. But Ken was just a regular guy. For the most part, anyway.

"I can not speak for all of the motivations of others..." it responded.

Vega rolled his eyes. "You aren't very useful at all."

"Stop it," Rose snapped. "Never in my life have I met someone so disrespectful." It was beginning to get embarrassing, having Vega as one of the four representatives of the human race in this struggle.

"Let's focus here," Charlie said. He turned his eyes on the machine, looking it over. He hadn't seen anything like this before. It was seven feet tall, at least, barrel-chested, enormous in every sense of the word. But it spoke so gently, with a soft look in its eyes. It looked like it could crush your head in one hand, but spoke like it would hardly swat at a fly. "You seem to know a lot about what's going on here," he said to it. "What can you tell us about the situation?"

It smiled enigmatically. "Very much." Then, suddenly, the airport was gone, and they were all beyond the grasp of consciousness.  


* * *

_Wǒ kàn guò nǐ de zuòpǐn. __Wǒ bùshì nǐ de biǎoxiàn gǎndào gāoxìng._-I have seen your work. I am not pleased with your performance.


	24. At the Beginning

"This is all there was, at the beginning."

No one could tell where they were. There was nothing in the dark, vast and endless void around them. They couldn't even see each other-or know that anyone else was there besides themselves. There was no such thing as light yet. A few of them tried to speak to each other, to have some sort of confirmation that they weren't alone in this, but they were frustrated to find that there was no air by which their voices could travel, and so they sat in this dark, terrifying silence, listening to the voice of the android.

"So we began to play a game."

Suddenly, in some distant quadrant of the void, something exploded into life. The brilliance of it in the dark caused them all to look away and cover their eyes until they could grow accustomed to it. One by one, clouds of clustered gases exploded into stars, and little spots filled the darkness, and now, they could all see each other. All of them were together-the four would-be heroes, the three people who'd been thrust into this mad adventure by chance, and the two halves of a single soul. They were all barely grounded on some stray piece of rock and metal as it was slowly pulled into a steady orbit around the bright yellow star which had just forced its way into being. They tried to talk to each other, but again, they were without any luck, and they were left to watch the birth of the universe unfold before them.

"In your world, you would call me Creation. My opponent would then by that same token be called Destruction, though these names may carry slightly biased connotations. As I urged stars into fusion, he collapsed them into hungry voids. As I strung together planets in an effort to begin lives, he smashed them to pieces with the stray remnants of their lost brethren." They watched in awe as what he spoke of unfurled before their eyes. Asteroids slammed into each other, spraying debris everywhere. The distant points of light blinked out while others still emerged into being. And then, the ground beneath their feet shook, as something collided with it. The machine was there with them suddenly, looking around as if lost in some kind of nostalgia. "This is your home," he said, spreading his hands to indicate the lifeless rock floating through space. "When it was an infant." Suddenly, the orbit sped up. Mountains erupted from beneath them, molten rivers coursed the surface, fire sprayed through the newly formed skies. They all panicked a little before realising that they would've been dead from the start if they were truly entrenched in this time, and not just mere spectators."A violent birth," the machine continued. "It was a struggle to instate life here. In the end, I won out on this world. But I do not like to meddle in it more than I must. So I created the dragons."

The fires were quelled, molten rock cooling and solidifying and for the first time, rain fell from the skies. The world was on fast forward again as water flooded the once fiery planet. Oceans were left behind, and microscopic lifeforms multiplied, grew, evolved. They witnessed, for the briefest of seconds, the first visitor to walk on land as it dragged itself from the sea. The fast pace picked up, life forms speeding past them, trees growing to enormous heights in mere seconds. Dinosaurs were everywhere, and then, in an instant, gone in a bright flash. "What happened!" Sakura cried. She was the first of them to speak, everyone else in such awe that they'd found it hard to make their mouths work.

"My opponent won. He ended everything quite swiftly," the machine explained. "I felt such sorrow at the loss of so much life. But...I still had a a trick or two of my own." Mammals scuttled around, emerging out of their hiding spaces and quickly populating the planet. Soon, there were apes, then upright walking primates, and then, man emerged, and lived primitively with their creators-the four dragons. "Man came along, and only then, with the introduction of a being capable of higher thought, was the planet an eligible player in the more complex levels of the game. Each of the four gave all of you a special gift. From Earth, you learned resilience. Water gave you intuition. Fire gave you passion . And Air gave you wisdom. They lived among you in your earliest years, and you were pleased to know them." They watched as villages grew up around them, first simple fields where bands of nomads gathered. Then small camps. Then permanent residences were established in the forms of huts or caves. The dragons could be seen in brief instances, and the humans treated them with reverence. Languages began to form, people began to learn to write and read, villages became larger, almost cities now as mankind advanced.

"Then, my opponent chose to utilise this planet in his next move. In an effort to counter it, the four of you were given the task of aiding the dragons in the defense of mankind." It indicated Ryu, Chun-Li, Vega, and Charlie. "You were, as you have no doubt learned by now, given even greater gifts in return for your services, and lived unnaturally long lives as a result. It became your jobs to protect this planet, so it was intended that as long as it was alive, so to would you be." The skies had grown darker, and monsters not unlike the ones they'd seen themselves-along with many others they hadn't been burdened with seeing-terrorized the cities. Suddenly, views changed rapidly. A man sat atop Earth's back, dressed in armour, sword in hand and a look of grim determination as he rode with hundreds of men behind him towards an oncoming wave of mutated animals. The man looked nearly the same as Ryu, the only difference being their manner of dress and hairstyles. The earth itself seemed to split open beneath the monsters's feet as the man swung his sword in a smooth arc overhead. Then suddenly, they were somewhere else, though the scene was similar. This time, the focus was a woman who greatly resembled Chun-Li, but slightly older, dressed in vibrant blue silks and elabourately braided hair, face passive as she tightened her grip on the pole of the kwan dao in her hand. She was sitting on Water's back, and on either side of them, soldiers were lined up, prepared for the impact of another pack of beasts. They stood along the banks of a river whose waters rose up from their bed and swirled around overhead, sparkling in what meager amount of sunlight there was. But once more, they were shown another new scene. This man looked like a very young Vega, except more of a mess, with wild, shoulder length hair and dirty, ragged clothes. He screamed out a war cry, pointing his blazing falcata forward as he and many others who looked as bedraggled as him rode fearlessly into battle on horseback, Fire roaring out his own cry overhead. Finally, their last focus was an ancient rendition of Charlie, who looked so strange with longer hair that he almost seemed like a different person entirely. He fired arrow after arrow relentlessly into the oncoming hoard, hundreds of other soldiers embroiled in battle around him as Air circled above them.

"You drove back my opponent, and he lost. And while you were treated with great respect for many years to come, it could not last forever. As countries grew and civilisations came into contact with each other, many clamoured to name one of you as their own protector against human invaders. Then, soon, you were spurned by all of them for your refusal. They began to fear your strengths, that you would band together, and rule over them...you all, however, held no such desires, but ultimately..." The scene changed again, and a man was reading something in a language none of them could understand. A crowd watched with anticipation as four people stood at the gallows, hands tied behind their backs, nooses forced around their necks. The wind blew hard, and storm clouds gathered overhead. The man who had been reading stopped suddenly, looking to the four prisoners. They were silent, but resolute, giving no indication of their disappointment in the people they'd protected for so long. The man gave his order, and then the ground beneath the prisoners' feet gave way, and the ropes snapped tight, bearing their full weight. Sakura cried out and covered her eyes. It was unsettling, seeing the people who looked so much like her friends hang their lifelessly, everyone watching eagerly and shouting out their relief.

"Their fear of you drove them to destroy you. There were still some who thought highly of you." Once more, they were viewing something different as a small band of people placed their bodies reverently in their final resting places, offering up prayers of forgiveness for the actions of their fellow man. "The four dragons, disappointed in the behaviour of their creations, retreated to more private places where man would not reach them. They would stay hidden, forgotten, until they were one day needed again."

"How could they do that?" Sakura whispered, shaking her head as she watched the last of the men leave the tomb. "How could they kill the people who had fought so hard to save them?"

"Fear is a powerful emotion," the machine responded. "It will drive a man to do things which he would not normally consider acceptable. In their fear for their safety, they forgot that these four were their guardians, their protectors. It is a tool my opponent uses quite efficiently at times, as you have seen. He has used many tricks in this game, and when he thought that the four of you were gone from this world, he presumed that this planet was his to take, and was in no rush to remove it from the game just yet. But he would be surprised to learn that you were still here..." The machine smiled one of its strange little smiles, as if it was delighted with a secret. But then, slowly, the smile faded as it continued. "He knew he had to act quickly in an attempt to set the board up in his favour. He has made attempts to bring all of you to his side, to take hold of each of you before I could. Each of you had moments of vulnerability."

Time sped up again, and this time, things were much more familiar to all of them. There was Ryu, crying out in grief at the sight of his dead master, the man who had been like a father to him. "Ryu, you were tempted to take revenge on Akuma for the murder of the man who raised you and loved you like a son. You would stop at nothing to become as powerful as possible." The scene changed. Sagat was there, extending a hand to help the defeated warrior up. Ryu stared, eyes wide, breath coming rapidly as he failed to fight back the urge to win at all costs. He couldn't take the defeat. He brought his legs under him, curled his fist into a ball, and shouted, "_Metsu Shoryuken!"_ and jumped upward as forcefully as possible. Sagat was taken off-guard, and the attack was much stronger than anything he'd ever witnessed. The impact of the attack caused a spray of blood to arc through the air, and Sagat fell back, clutching his bleeding chest and gasping for breath. Ryu stood over a fallen Sagat, his eyes blazing red, blood dripping from his hands. "The Satsui no Hadou was my opponent's attempt to take you to his side." Ryu felt shame as the scene played out for everyone to view, and he hoped that they could forgive him for this behaviour. He was startled to feel someone's hand in his, and he glanced to the side, spotting Sakura, who looked back up at him as if to say, _'It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes.'_ The scene changed again to one that had happened only months ago, though by now it seemed as if years had passed. He, along with Ken and Sakura, were back at the S.I.N. compound, during their encounter with the BLECE reactor. It expelled the excess energy it had taken in, throwing Sakura into a wall with a greater force than she could handle. After destroying the machine, he felt a new sense of urgency as he rushed to Sakura's side. It wasn't about winning anymore-he had to help his friends."You conquered it masterfully with the aid of those close to you,"

"Chun-Li." Again, things around them changed quickly. There was a younger version of the girl in question, not much more than eighteen, left feeling isolated at her father's funeral in spite of the number of people around her. She didn't cry, lost in her own thoughts as the ceremony continued. "With your father's death, you became embittered and desperate for revenge." There was an interrogation room. The other officer stepped out, leaving Chun-Li alone with the suspect. She waited several seconds for the footsteps to fade in the hall before suddenly grabbing the man by the back of his head and slamming it into the table. She held it there, leaning in close, and hissed, "_I know you can lead me to Bison, you coward. It might just be in your best interest to tell me where he is!" _The man cried out as she tightened her grip when she received no response. "You would stop at nothing to bring down Shadaloo, even implementing some questionable techniques in your interrogation and detective methods..." There was another change, and she was alone at the scene of a recent crime which she knew was linked to the terrorist organisation she despised so much. She glanced around quickly before retrieving from her pocket a small bag which she then planted quietly into the dresser drawer of the suspect for another officer to find. The woman glanced down at her feet, willing the machine to not divulge anything further. It then showed her on the phone with someone, speaking of a man named Ryu whom Bison seemed to have a particular interest in. The one on the other end asked a question, to which she responded, "_No. I'll just use him to get close to Bison...I'll do whatever it takes." _At this, she felt the most shameful. While she'd roughed up a number of suspects in order to get them to talk, or planted evidence at scenes which she knew to involve criminals with some relation or another to Shadaloo, it was her proclamation that she would use Ryu as a means to an end that embarrassed her the most. She glanced up at her friend, who was, as usual, unreadable. "But you realised your mistakes before it was too late, able to turn from that path." Now she was in that helicopter with Guile, Ken, Sakura, Ryu, and Cammy, escaping the self-destructing S.I.N. base. She remembered looking at all of them, thinking back on how she thought of them when she first met them. They were either obstacles in her ultimate goal of revenge, or tools, but upon reflecting, she felt an overwhelming guilt. These people weren't either of those things anymore-they were her best friends, and she loved them dearly. In losing one family, she had gained another, although it had taken her some time to realise that. The thought helped her to finally accept her father's death, and to realise the mistakes she had made.

"And Charlie, you were a unique case." The sudden sound of a man crying out as he was thrown into a brick wall startled everyone. Charlie, dressed in Shadaloo uniform, approached his victim, wrenching him to his feet by the hair only to deliver a fierce attack. "Perhaps my opponent's most aggressive move was his attempt at capturing you." To the horror of his friends, the man they knew to be such a kind and calm person took the man by the sides of his head, and twisted quick, an audible crack resulting. The man dropped to the floor as Charlie let go. Making a quick phone call, he said, "_Subject has been terminated as per mission parameters." _ While his friends watching knew he was not in control of himself at the time, they couldn't help being disturbed by the vision playing out before them. Charlie felt an immense guilt over the lives he'd taken while under Bison's control. He could remember all of them-they weren't necessarily innocent people, but they certainly didn't deserve death. He hoped for forgiveness everyday, but it seemed like he'd never be able to pray enough to make up for what he'd done. "I nearly gave up trying to win you back from him after you resurfaced as a Shadaloo agent, and then you surprised the both of us by breaking away from this influence." Now the setting was a mountainside, where Chun-Li and Guile were ready to face off against Bison, when suddenly, Charlie interrupted, demanding his friends to get as far away as possible. There was a bright flash, and then suddenly, Bison and Charlie were tumbling over the side of the mountain, unable to gain any bearings before plummeting into a river below. Guile and Chun-Li cried out for him, but knew they were ultimately helpless in this situation-they couldn't possibly scale the rock wall in time to catch him, and jumping in after him would be a death sentence. When they searched the river banks, they saw no trace of their friend. One last time, the view changed, and Charlie was laying in the grass, soaking wet and barely conscious. He pushed himself off the ground, shaking as he did so. Half-lidded eyes surveyed new and mysterious surroundings before he dropped back to the cold grass again with a groan. "Your resilience still impresses me to this day, and I am grateful for it."

"And..." It turned its eyes to the last member, knowing already that this would end unpleasantly, but also that it had to be said if there was any hope in putting things right. "Vega. An already brittle situation..." A younger version of Vega was slammed into a wall, held by his throat by an older man who hissed out some threat in Spanish. Vega spat a retort back at him, struggling to get away, and from the other side of the room, a woman shouted angrily, running to her son's side and trying to pry the two apart without much success. "...reached its breaking point." This time, the scene changed to one of Vega standing beside his mother, who clutched his hand tightly, glaring daggers at a taller, dark-haired man on the other side of the room. The man growled something out in Spanish, and then suddenly drew a gun. The shot seemed to echo forever, and the woman dropped instantly. Vega stared for a second, shocked at the sight of the woman convulsing on the floor, blood pouring out of her mouth and nose, pooling behind her head. It was a grisly scene, difficult to watch, and was made even worse when the boy ran screaming at the man like an animal. The man tried to fire on the boy, but missed, and he was tackled to the ground. Time seemed to skip forward, and suddenly, Vega was sitting against the wall, head in his bloodied hands, rocking back and forth. Then he screamed, a horrible, heart-rending cry that was almost certainly reserved for lost souls. "That instance of unbridled rage was all it took for my opponent to gain power over you. Rose tried to help you, but...others...stood in her way." The robotic eyes glanced towards Bison, who showed no remorse for his actions. "I will not say it is too late for you, even after all you have done. But in the end, all of your decisions always have, and always will, rely on you." As the story drew to a close, they were left frozen at this last, unfortunate, point in time.

It was a climactic ending to a long story, and everyone was left feeling drained as these intense visions played out before them. Sakura was clutching Ryu's hand tightly now, on the verge of tears. Guile shook his head a little, glancing over at Chun-Li who couldn't help but stare at the spectral images of the former inhabitants of the home who were quickly fading. Maya scratched the back of her head, feeling pretty awkward at the complete exposure the four individuals had gone through. There wasn't exactly much someone could say after witnessing some of the darkest secrets of a person's life unfold right before your eyes. The scenery around them began to change only in that the lighting grew dimmer, until it was nearly pitch black, and the home no longer seemed well-kept and clean but abandoned and derelict. A deranged little laugh poured from Vega's mouth as he shook his head. "All of our lives," he said, "have been nothing but a game."

"There has never been one more important," the machine responded.

"_Entertainment,_" Vega snapped, sparks jumping from his fingertips without conscious effort, "for two ethereal _assholes _who have nothing better to do with their time than manipulate and destroy-_no puedo creer esto!_" He put his hands to his face and laughed again. He kept talking through his laughter, "You ruin entire lives to play! We're nothing but pawns in a cosmic game of chess!"

"Calm down," Rose said, holding up a hand, not liking the way flames were steadily creeping up his fingers, over his hands. "You must know how important you are in all of this. All of you."

"My mother was important to me," Vega said harshly, fire spurting from his extremities now. "But she was a means to an end! Kill her to get that piece on your side-checkmate, enjoy the psychotic break!" They could feel heat radiating from him intensely as the flames became hotter. He wasn't even trying, but they reached higher temperatures, and arced from his limbs sporadically. Everyone was finding it difficult to remain at such a close proximity. Rose did what she could in an attempt to shield herself and the others who were not able to do so as Bison did the same for himself.

"Vega, please, stop," Chun-Li said, water wrapping around her own limbs. "I know how it feels to lose a parent! But we can't give up now!" She took a step towards him, and he glared back, eyes now eerie, solid white. He was completely wreathed in flames now, and another spike in heat caused the water around Chun-Li to boil away almost instantly. She now knew what it meant when people referred to something as terrifyingly beautiful. She tried again, but it seemed futile as more steam hissed away into the air.

Ryu tried his hand at this, able to bear a bit more of the heat due to his lithic form. "Losing it now isn't going to help anyone."

"We've all been screwed over by this other guy-doesn't that make you want to fight him all the more harder?" Charlie asked, becoming worried at the way the fire shot out of the enraged Spaniard in a blueish-white hue. He was able to divert air flow away from himself, reducing the amount of heat he felt slightly, but that in turn served to fuel the fire further. Were they without protection, they would he enjoying some pretty nasty burns by now. The rug in the musty old room was already starting to burn, the wood floor beneath that becoming scorched.

"I want nothing to do with their god damned game," Vega hissed, a spike in temperature causing everyone to take a step back. The flames sparked blue-hot, and then suddenly, he dropped like a bag of rocks, the flames extinguishing before he even hit the ground. Everyone hesitated before stepping towards him, and Ryu even ventured to nudge him with his toe. Chun-Li took this opportunity to quickly extinguish the small fires that were still burning in the rug. It was a miracle-or possibly Rose or Bison-that the entire room hadn't been flash fried.

"Is he dead?" Sakura whispered, leaning forward.

"Don't be foolish," Bison answer. She blushed. Maybe it had been silly to think that. "We need him. But he can be unruly at times, and I have a quick fix for that. He's simply unconscious. Who knows what kinds of temperatures he could reach?"

"Five thousand eight hundred Kelvin. That is, the temperature of the surface of your sun," the machine responded. "He would kill himself in the process, however, due to the amount of energy it would require."

"He'd kill _everything,_" Chun-Li whispered. "How could he be entrusted with something like that?"

"Neither myself nor my opponent chose who to give these powers to," the machine said. "And were I the one who would have won him, he would not be such a threat. Just as if my opponent won you, Charlie, or Ryu would you be as much of a risk as him."

"How the hell are we going to keep our little firefly under control here?" Maya asked, speaking up for the first time. It had been quite a ride, and for someone as cynical and skeptical as herself, the whole history of the universe display had been a little much. Seeing a guy burst into flames hadn't been particularly helpful. Knowing that he could do it again-and apparently fry the entire planet if he wanted-helped even less.

Bison shook his head. "I've been trying for years now," he responded with a sigh. "If you figure something out, do let me know."

"Well you can't just leave him on the floor like that," Ryu said with a shake of his head. Being completely honest with himself, he felt a little bad for Vega after seeing the things the machine had shown them. He felt bad for all of them, in a way. Charlie, he thought, must have been living with an extreme amount of guilt. He'd known of Chun-Li's loss, and had sympathised with her, but hadn't realised the extent to which it had impacted her. He admitted feeling hurt when he saw her refer to him as a mere tool in an effort to bring her closer to Bison, but he realised, ultimately, that he was more than that to her now. He was a friend, and friends were able to forgive things like that.

"Which brings us to the pressing question of where we are, exactly," Guile asked. They all thought hard for a second. When had they left the fast-forwarded history lecture and been dropped back off in reality?

But Bison had an answer, which was only half-surprising given the amount of knowledge he seemed to have on things. "This was Vega's home. I presume since it was the last location in our foray into your pasts' it became our drop-off point."

"That is correct," the machine answered.

"Jesus," Guile muttered, putting a hand to his head and looking around. "No wonder it gives me the creeps." The place was quite intimidating in its silence, and the clear fact that it had not been lived in for many years, left to rot, didn't help.

"Especially after seeing what happened here," Charlie added with a nod.

"A place to rest, however, is still a place to rest," Rose said, glancing around. There was something here that unsettled her, but she realised that night was falling. They wouldn't get very far in the dark of an unfamiliar place.

"We can't," Ryu responded with a shake of his head. "Ken needs our help."

"But we won't be any help if we're too wrecked to fight for him," Charlie reasoned, seeing Rose's logic. It would be too dark to walk to an airport soon, and none of them had any idea of where one even was from this location. "We'd have to wait for Vega to wake up anyway to show us where to go. So we may as well use that time to recuperate."

"Don't know how much rest you're gonna get in this place," Maya muttered, looking around. Everything seemed so dusty and gross, she sure as hell didn't want to sleep in any of these beds, or couches.

"You get exhausted enough, you'll sleep anywhere," Guile responded. Then, he smirked. "But you suits don't know anything about that, with your cozy little offices."

"So sue me for having standards, jarhead," she shot back with a roll of her eyes. But Maya's statement was not far from the truth-no one would get very much rest that evening.


	25. Prayers of the Devil

Some of them slept better than others. Ryu was too anxious over the disappearance of his best friend to get much rest. He was fairly good at keeping a handle on his emotions, not really one for things like anxiety and nervousness. But when it came to something like this, it was a little more difficult to make himself stay calm enough to sleep. He couldn't help but feel useless, just sitting here and not even bothering to help. He knew, perhaps, that such thinking was a little foolish, but he couldn't help it. Sakura was in the room with him, torn between wanting to explore the creepy, empty house and knowing that she should probably get to sleep. She was a little frightened by the place, she could admit it. After seeing what had happened to Vega's parents, she began to scare herself into thinking their ghosts were still here. Maybe it was a little disrespectful, but the thought wouldn't leave her head. She turned over to look at Ryu, who looked like he was asleep, but she couldn't be sure. She decided she'd give it a few more minutes before she would leave the room, her curiosity getting the better of her.

In another room, Charlie bunked with Guile. Everyone was grouped in pairs, no one wanting to leave anyone alone in a place this big. The two talked for a little while, catching up some as they hadn't yet had much of a chance to do so, but both ultimately knew they should get some rest. Each picked a corner of the floor and did their best to get to sleep. The furniture, for the first time in their lives, seemed less appealing than the floor, even though at this point, both probably had the same amount of dust on them. But the floor didn't have that almost slimy texture as the unused bed, which helped a lot in the decision making process.

Elsewhere, Maya decided to keep the android in the same room as herself. While Rose protested some at first, she ultimately relinquished the privilege to Maya. It seemed that this woman was still dedicated to her job at this point, and in her mind, regardless of what spirit was inhabiting the body of the android, it was still property of the United States, and still her assignment. If she let anything happen to it, her job would be on the line. Not to mention, the fate of the planet. Rose decided then to stay with Chun-Li, who most certainly wasn't going to share a room with Bison.

But the general had no intention of sleeping. He'd moved Vega to a couch with a surprising amount of care. No one pegged Bison for the soft type, and he hadn't exactly proven them wrong on this, but they definitely hadn't expected him to be the one to pick the unconscious Spaniard off of the singed floor and place him on the couch. Even further, they hadn't expected him to stay with him. He'd done some snooping, and found at least one sealed bottle of whiskey, and attempted to pour himself a drink, but quickly realised that there were no clean glasses, and most certainly no running water. It would've been a crime to waste any of the alcohol on cleaning out a glass, however, so he simply decided on taking the whole bottle with him back out into the room where Vega was, and drank right from it.

He wasn't exactly sure of the time-possibly nearing midnight-but he was quite surprised to see Chun-Li walk into the room and furthermore sit across from him on the other side of the coffee table. He raised an eyebrow at her, arm resting on a knee and bottle of liquor in hand. He was a little out of sorts-not nearly as neat as he usually was, with his hair a bit messy, the top few buttons of his shirt undone, but he wasn't too concerned with keeping up appearances right now. "Do you need something?" he asked, a little sarcastically, setting the bottle on the table after taking another swig. He wasn't sure why she'd come in here at all, and was waiting for the insults to start. He wasn't really in the mood.

She glanced at the bottle, picked it up, and then much to his surprise, knocked a mouthful back herself. It was plain she didn't drink often-she puckered her lips immediately, and shook her head a bit before setting the bottle back down. "I've been after you since I was eighteen years old. Nearly ten years now."

"Are you planning something special for the anniversary?" he asked,

She snorted, and shook her head, looking around the room. "You've consumed my life for the better part of a decade," she continued. "And here you are. Just sitting right there. And I'm finally capable of bringing you down." She held up a hand, demonstrating her unique talent that had caused him to become more interested in her, little ribbons of water dancing around her fingers. Then they were gone. "But then this comes along, and I can't." She smirked, amused with the irony of it all.

"Better luck next time," he said, taking another drink.

"When did you learn about what happened to him?" she asked, suddenly changing topics and nodding to the unconscious form on the couch. Bison glanced over his shoulder at the blond head behind him, then shrugged, turning back to Chun-Li.

"From the time I hired him."

"All this time I've spent hating him," she continued, shaking her head. "Despising him almost as much as I do you, and after seeing all of that-" she waved a hand back towards the room where the flashback took place, "I realised, he's right. We were just alike. We were both out for some kind of revenge, and that need for revenge twists you and contorts you into something barely human and...I'm lucky. I was able to figure that out, and stop before I turned into...into him. Seeing him, knowing that I came so close to being what he is...I'm so lucky, and I almost want to _thank _him."

But it was Bison's turn to shake his head, and he spoke in a lower voice than before. "You aren't the same," he said in a low voice, eyes rolling up towards the roof. He looked back down at her. "You have always been out for revenge. Perhaps for him, it began as a need for it, but it's certainly different now. His mind is completely destroyed, and no, there is no hope for him. I know, because I made sure of it. I needed to make him sicker, more crazed, paranoid, _desperate._" He paused, taking another drink. "Sometimes, I regret it," he said softly, the Chinese girl barely catching the saddened look Bison threw Vega's way. She couldn't help but be surprised by seeing that expression on Bison's face, but then his eyes hardened just as soon as they'd grown soft, and he said, "But what is he but another human, another means to an end."

"He seems to trust you, you know. Seems to respect you."

Bison nodded. "He's too blindly devoted to me to see the strings."

"You don't think that's sad?"

"I don't need to justify my actions to you," he replied, becoming irritated with her. Why was she even speaking to him to begin with? She should be asleep, and she should most certainly not want to have a calm conversation with him.

"Then to him?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

He hesitated, bottle held just before his lips. "No amount of words could help fix what I've done to him," he said quietly before tipping the bottle back again.

She frowned. "It couldn't hurt to try." It wasn't that she suddenly cared for Vega-he was going behind bars the minute this was all over, and if she was lucky, she could get Bison at the same time. She simply pitied him now when she hadn't before. Her feelings towards him were quite a mixed bag at this point, and it was difficult to get a handle on them. Maybe that was why she'd come here to Bison in the first place, in an attempt to sort out her emotions. But this revelation that Bison must've felt some modicum of guilt over helping Vega become the person he was now only served to confuse her further.

Suddenly, a hand smacked Bison on the back of the head, causing the general to lean forward slightly and rub the impacted area irritably. "What the hell, asshole_?_" Vega snapped, sitting up and rubbing his own head.

Bison sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're such a pleasure to be around."

"You turned my brain off, you stupid elephant!" Vega cried, hitting Bison again, who hissed and withdrew.

"Don't think I won't hit you back," Bison growled, getting a little irritated. He'd expected Vega to be angry with him when he woke up, but that didn't mean he wanted to put up with this.

He groaned in response, falling back onto the couch. Then he shrieked, jumping up with a start and looking around. "Why are we here?" he cried, then whirled around to look back at Bison on the floor.

"Magic," Bison responded, not really in the mood to explain. Vega rolled his eyes, then noticed Chun-Li for the first time. He wrinkled his nose, and said, "Why are _you _here?"

"Magic," she answered, parroting Bison with a slight grin.

"I don't appreciate this," Vega spat back. "It isn't funny. Why are we here? We need to leave."

"Why?" Chun-Li said. The place wasn't dangerous, albeit a little creepy in the dark like this. But the more people that were awake and talking, the less unsettling it became. And as Rose had said, they needed the rest.

"We just do," he muttered, putting a hand to his head, entangling his fingers in his hair.

"Go back to sleep," Bison said with a shake of his head. "We aren't leaving until morning, and that's still a ways off."

"You don't understand, we _can't _stay here," Vega urged, grabbing Bison by the arm and yanking. "Get up, you cow! Let's leave!"

Bison shrugged off the younger man's grip, and sighed irritably. "I liked it better when you were unconscious."

"I'm having that feeling again-that something is tracking us down," Vega hissed. "And the last few times that happened, things didn't turn out so well!"

Bison began to respond, but then, a voice cut through the night. Music was playing from the other room, and someone was singing along with it. "_Mais la vie separe...Ceux qui s'aiment..." _came the voice, faint from beyond the wall.

"What is that?" Chun-Li whispered, glancing up at the others. Both Bison and Vega looked very alert now, and the joking was plainly over for both of them. Vega shook his head and covered his ears.

"_Tout doucemont, sans faire de bruit!" _she continued to sing. It wasn't Rose, and definitely not Maya or Sakura. Chun-Li got to her feet, took a step towards the source of the voice, but Vega grabbed her. He shook his head again, and said, "No, let's just _leave._"

Upstairs, Sakura paused in her exploration of a photo album, ears perking up at the noise from downstairs. She wandered towards it, spotting Bison, Chun-Li, and Vega below, and whispered, "What's going on?" She'd wondered if perhaps there had been some sort of altercation, and was ready to get some help if that were the case. But that couldn't be it-Chun-Li didn't look upset, but curious, and Vega looked near the verge of a panic attack, while Bison seemed fairly concerned about something. Then she heard the singing, too, and drew her brows together. "Who is that?" she whispered.

"Doesn't matter, we're going now," Vega whispered back as Sakura made her way down the stairs to meet the others.

"_Et la mer efface sur le sable...les pas des amants desunis..."_

"Stay there," Chun-Li said to Sakura, holding a hand up. The noise was attracting more attention now, and Charlie and Guile had both made their way out to see what the problem was. When it was explained to them that the source of the voice was a mystery, they joined the others in an effort to solve the puzzle. But Vega already had the answer, and was still pleading with them to start heading out. The group crept towards the room that the song was coming from, and Vega followed them reluctantly at the command of Bison.

"Since you went away," the woman continued along with the song, "The days grow long... And soon I'll hear old winter songs..." The woman sat with her backs to them, gazing out the window as she brushed her fingers through long, blonde hair. Streaks of red were dripping through it, making them all feel a little nauseous. That couldn't be what they thought it was. An old record player was spinning a dust covered vinyl, playing it perfectly. "But I miss you most of all, my darling, when the autumn leaves start to fall..."

"Who is that?" Charlie whispered. The woman turned around now, as if surprised at the sound of the voice. The image was an unsettling one. She was a ghostly pale shade, eyes completely black and blood running from her eyes, nose, and mouth. A fresh bullet wound still bled from her forehead, and she tilted her head at them as she said, "_Mi pollito? Donde has estada, mi pollito?_"

"What is going on?" Guile whispered in disgust.

"Jesus Christ," Vega whispered frantically, grabbing the sides of his head.

"We shouldn't have come here," Bison said with a nod. But the woman was already very interested in them now, standing up, picking a knife up from the table as she did so.

"_Por que no volviste a mi?_" she asked, shaking her head and arching her eyebrows in inquiry.

"Maybe we should leave now," Charlie said with a nod. No one disagreed, turning away in order to leave, only to be met with the corpse not more than a foot in front of them. Chun-Li gave a short cry, being closest to the ghost now. The woman didn't seem too concerned with most of them, continuing to stare at Vega.

"_Que me dejaste..." _She reached out a bloodied hand and he squirmed out of the way.

"_Detente..." _he whispered, shaking his head slowly. "_Dios mio, por favor, detente..._"

"Oh, my chick," the woman answered in English suddenly, her voice sweet and matronly, and thickly accented. "God doesn't listen to the prayers of the devil." In an instant, a horrifying, inhuman roar went up from the woman's throat as she took a swing with the knife. It would've sliced Vega's jugular clean in two had Bison not grabbed him by the arm and thrust him out of the way of the blade. Her eyes burned a deep purple now, and she tightened her grip on the handle of the knife. The noise was enough to wake the rest of the sleeping inhabitants of the house up, and they rushed from their rooms to find what had caused it. When Rose laid eyes on the ghost, she demanded Maya to power up the machine and bring it out here, knowing what was behind this.

It headed for Vega again, but then, the calm voice of the android caused the apparition to hesitate and glance calmly over her shoulder. "I think this is a very unfair move," he said.

The woman didn't seem too concerned with the machine anymore, however, and continued her advances. "_Sea un chico bueno, pollito." _She curled a finger at him, as if indicating for him to come to her. Vega stared at the apparition. This wasn't something he was very prepared to deal with, and he wasn't sure how to respond to it. Few people in the room were, for that matter, being able only to stare as well. But the machine took a step towards them, ready to end this. She continued to ignore it as it approached, now standing face to face with Vega who blinked hard and shook his head.

"Stop," he said, trying to appear confident and failing.

"_No amas tu madre?_" she asked, appearing deeply hurt. "_No quieres venir conmigo?_" One pale hand entangled itself in his hair and he hissed. He felt Bison wrap a hand around his wrist and pull hard just as she took another shot at him. The blade bit into his side and she stumbled a bit as he moved from her path. Then the machine took hold of her. Her blackened eyes flew open wide, and she cried out for Vega's help. His head snapped up-he knew he couldn't do anything, and beyond that, she'd just tried to stab him. This wasn't his mother, although it still hurt just as much to hear her scream like that. He squeezed his eyes shut at her shouting, as if she were being injured and beaten. The machine hadn't done anything like that, however. It merely took the apparition by the shoulders, and said, "Your turn is over now." She shrieked again, crying for Vega, accusing him of hating her, abandoning her, and why wasn't he helping her now if he loved her? He gritted his teeth, the pain in his side helping to remind him that this was not his mother. But the sting of the accusations from such a familiar and beloved voice, one he hadn't heard in a little over a decade, was perhaps just as painful.

Then, the room was silent again, and the apparition had disappeared into a fine black mist which seemed to evapourate into nothing. No one really knew what to say at that point. The machine broke the silence, turning its eyes to Vega and saying, "He will not come back for some time. But as long as you are in this party, the enemy will always know where we are."

Vega squeezed his eyes shut, holding a hand to the wound on his side. She hadn't hurt him badly. At least he had that much to be grateful for. He looked up, and asked, "Why? Why me?"

"You and Fire are his pieces," the machine responded. "He can feel where you are at all times. You are like a tracking device, and he uses your signal to find the others. But if he can kill just one of you, then the game is over. We must be more careful."

Vega looked down, feeling something along the lines of embarrassment. It was a little stronger than that. Guilt, even. But he gritted his teeth, and spat, "Well what do you want me to do? I can't really help all of that."

"You can. As your choices brought you to his side, so too can they deliver you from him." Vega frowned. How, exactly, was he supposed to get away from this 'enemy' if he wasn't even aware of how he'd fallen to him in the first place?

Sensing the Spaniard's frustrations, Rose tried to switch the topic. "Perhaps we should try to get whatever rest we still can before morning comes."

"I don't think I'll ever get to sleep again," Sakura whispered, heart still racing from the brief display of horror she'd witnessed. It wasn't enough that this house was creepy-it was also genuinely haunted. She hadn't seen much, but it'd been enough.

"We can sleep in shifts," Charlie offered, hoping that would make her-and anyone else who felt nervous about it-feel a little more comfortable. "And maybe we should all stay in the same room."

"There are ten of us here," Guile said. "How should we do this?"

"I'd say two shifts of five people. The more people awake at one time, the better," Ryu put in.

"How many hours left til morning?" Maya asked, rubbing her eyes. Now that the initial terror of the attack had worn off, she was already feeling tired again. The thing hadn't been after her, so it was easier to not get anxious over it.

Bison glanced down at his phone. "Roughly six hours until sunrise, if this is still accurate," he said. "So two shifts of three hours."

"Who gets to go to sleep and who has to stay up?" Charlie asked, looking around.

"I'm not tired," Sakura, Vega, and Bison all said at once. Then Sakura cried out from habit, "Jinx, you owe me a soda..." voice faltering as she realised the people she'd just jinxed wouldn't play along with a game like that. Bison glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow, but she saw the corners of Vega's lips twitch up just slightly, and even if he was smiling _at _her and not _with _her, it made her feel better.

"I'll stay awake," Ryu said with a nod. He'd gotten little sleep to begin with, but he knew it would take a lot to get him back to sleep at this point. He didn't want to deprive someone else of rest if they could get it.

"And I guess I can be lucky contestant number five," Charlie put in with a shrug. He looked over at the others. "Sweet dreams. See you guys in a few hours." While the others did their best to get their last few remaining hours of sleep, the first shift stayed quiet for the most part. Sakura realised that she should refrain from making noise, but at the same time, the silence was what helped make the house so creepy. She kept looking around, expecting to see another ghost or monster.

"How far away is the airport from here?" she whispered to Vega, who looked over at her and shrugged helplessly. She drew her brows together, not understanding how he could've lived here and not known where such an important place was. "But...I thought you lived here." He nodded. "So why don't you know?" Again, he shrugged and shook his head.

"It's quite a walk," Bison put in, since Vega decided he wasn't talking now. He was a little irritated, but gave the younger man a pass. He was grateful just to see that he hadn't become problematic after this last attack, and the reminder that he was a tool of the enemy. "But I've only driven from there to here once, so I don't have an exact figure."

Sakura frowned. "I wish the dragons were here. Then Earth could take us where we needed to go."

"A little walking never killed anybody," Charlie said.

"Yeah, but it's a long way," she replied. "And wait-isn't Barcelona basically a really big beach? How far from the ocean is the airport, if the sea levels have risen?"

To that, Vega groaned, and covered his eyes with his hands in a clear show of frustration. He drew his hand over his face, but contributed nothing to the conversation.

"What?" Bison asked. Vega sighed. Bison frowned, and asked again, "What is the problem?" With a slightly louder sigh, he stood up, and left the room for a second. Everyone exchanged glances.

"I'd be a little weird right now if my dead mother just stabbed me in the ribs, so maybe we should let it slide," Charlie suggested with a shrug. But then, before anyone could say anything else, Vega had returned with a little cylinder of aluminum, sat back down beside Bison, and tossed the object at Sakura. She caught it with both hands, a little surprised, then inspected it. It was a blue can, white letters spelling out 'kas', with a stylized drawing of a green apple on the front. Pressing her lips together, she asked, "What is...man..zana?" She looked up at Vega, confused as to why he'd given her this.

"Apple. But I sure wouldn't drink it-it's nearly ten years old." Now her confusion was gone, and she smiled. It was why he hadn't been talking when he so clearly wanted to-he had to get her a soda, or he was still jinxed. She looked back up at him, and she saw him wink at her before he turned to Bison. "And the _problem _is just what she said. The airport is-or was-right on the beach."

"There aren't any private air fields around, further inland?" Charlie asked, not even bothering to ask what the can was about.

"Perhaps, but even if there are, a. I don't know where, b. they are unlikely to let us use their machines, and c., there is a high likelihood that most have evacuated already." He stopped talking for a second, and glanced around the room again as if to make sure everything was in order.

"Then how are we going to leave?" Rose asked.

"Walk," Vega answered with a shrug. It was the only one any of them had.


	26. Six Billion People

Charlie woke that morning feeling pretty drained. True he'd had worse nights of sleep. But not many. With a sigh, he rolled onto his side, bumping into a sleeping Sakura by accident. He frowned, glancing around the room. It was a little fuzzy, and he rubbed his eyes. There was some light coming through the windows, but not much. Gloomy mornings always felt the worst. He groped around near the coffee table for his glasses, and perched them on his nose, everything becoming clearer as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. He had a bit of a headache, and he knew something caffeinated was the only cure. But there wasn't likely to be anything in this derelict home, so he sighed, resigning himself to waiting it out.

Looking around, the place was a little less creepy in the daylight. Sakura was curled up on the floor next to him, her feet laying across Vega's legs. The Spaniard was on his back, one arm over his eyes and the other across his stomach. Bison was already awake and speaking calmly with Ryu, Guile, and Chun-Li-a Christmas miracle if Charlie had ever seen one-about where to head next. "Time to go?" Charlie croaked. He cleared his throat, hating how his voice sounded in the morning.

Guile nodded at him. "We should start waking everybody up." Charlie looked down at Sakura, and shook her shoulder lightly. She groaned a little, and rolled over. Vega groaned too, as her legs ended up on his stomach in the process. Sighing, he pushed them away, and rolling onto his side.

"Keep your feet to yourself, _n__iña,"_ he said, and she responded by propping her feet on his shoulder now. He growled, and pushed them away again, but she simply giggled in response.

"Everybody present and accounted for?" Guile asked, looking over everyone. Chun-Li and Ryu were eager to leave. Bison was waiting near them, arms crossed over his chest. Rose was headed over with them. Maya, along with the machine, was waiting as well. Charlie and Sakura got to their feet, while Vega nodded, shifting the scarf-turned-bandage just slightly in an effort to keep the wound clean. "Let's get the hell out of here..." Guile muttered, heading for the door. There were no supplies to gather-he wouldn't even use a blanket out of here. Everything was old, untouched for years. It wasn't worth it to carry anything out.

"Where are the dragons?" Sakura asked. It felt like it had been a very long time ago since they last saw the creatures. They weren't present for the machine's exposition of their pasts, and since then, Sakura, as well as the others, had begun to wonder what had happened. They'd disappeared once before, and that had been an anxious affair. They were very important in fixing the planet and winning the game, and they could not afford to be lost.

"Probably still in America, wondering where the hell you guys went," Guile said. It reminded him of just how far into this he'd been dragged. He'd been so close to getting back to his family, but then he found out about Ken...

"How do we get back to them?" Chun-Li asked, looking to the machine for an answer.

"In my last move, I chose to inform you of what you were fighting," he explained. "And in return, my opponent has used his move to try to keep you separated from the dragons. We will not be able to communicate with them until his next move has ended."

"Then where do we go next?" Charlie asked. It was a pretty frustrating game, especially when you didn't really know any of the rules.

"How do we fight this opponent?" Ryu asked. "If it is based somewhere on Earth, we need to figure out how to get to it."

"My opponent has assumed an avatar, much like I have done."

"So is he a robot, too?" Sakura asked.

"No," the machine responded.

"Can't you tell us who it is?" Chun-Li tried.

"I am unable to reveal to you his identity."

"You just told us it wasn't a machine," Vega said with a shake of his head. "But you can't tell us anymore than that?"

"There are six billion people on this planet, Commander," the machine responded with a smile. "I have hardly tipped you off on his identity."

"Six billion people..." Ryu whispered. "How are we ever going to find who we're looking for?"

Sakura frowned. "Just keep thinking positively!" she said with a nod. "I'm sure we'll find it... Don't worry."

Outside, it was still cold, the sky still overcast. Everything was dead, as if it were the middle of winter, but it wasn't even August yet. And to everyone's surprise, there was a vehicle in the yard out front. Guile exchanged glances with Charlie, then sighed. It was just a car-not nearly big enough to fit ten people into, even if you counted the trunk. And he could think of a few perfect candidates to go in there easily enough. It was painful that the way to salvation was sitting right there looking just a little dirty but still beautiful by Guile's reckoning, but they were unable to make use of it. "Why is my car here?" Vega muttered, brows drawn together.

"It was the last place you drove it," Bison said, as if it were obvious. How else would it get there, anyway?

"I don't remember-"

"You were inebriated."

"Oh," Vega responded, as if that explained everything and nodded. It was starting to creep back to him-he'd come here, ironically enough, to burn the place down. He thought he'd just imagined it in a moment of duress, but Bison had showed up-in spite of being dead-and demanded that the Spaniard pull himself together. Vega was an investment, his plant in S.I.N. under its new leadership. He wouldn't be very helpful if he accidentally injured himself in a moment of stupidity. Bison gave him his orders before disappearing altogether, and Vega followed them. The vehicle was forgotten about, given how busy the owner was going to be in South America with destroying the S.I.N. base. So he tilted his head, and then said,

"Really? You're rich as all hell and you drive one of the most common models of car possible?" Guile asked, raising an eyebrow.

"When you lead a double life, you don't exactly _want _to always draw attention to yourself," Vega snapped. "Cars don't interest me anyway-I travel so often that I barely use this one. Or...I used to."

"Well, I don't think anybody can be too interested in the car right now, anyway," Maya said with a shake of her head. "No way all of us are going to fit in it."

"There may still be another in the garage," Vega responded, nodding towards the area in question. "Though I doubt, after all this time, anyone could get it to work."

"Hot damn, I'm on it," Guile said, heading over to the room in question. Charlie was right on his heels.

"You're on it? Who maintained harrier jets for a living? Please, kid, _I'm _on it," he said, shaking his head as he and Guile bent over at the same time to push up the garage door. Then both frowned a little at the sight of the car inside. It was ten years old, at least, and it was covered in dust. "This is gonna be a tough one," Charlie admitted.

Guile nodded in response. "What's first?" he asked.

"How long's it been since this thing's been started?" Charlie asked, glancing over his shoulder at Vega who was peering into the windows of his car.

"Not since I was eighteen...that's...fourteen years," he responded, and frowned. Was he really that old?

"No," Chun-Li said with a shake of her head. "You're still thinking in future-terms. Compensate for the five years-it's only been nine."

"_Only _nine," Guile said, nodding with a smirk.

"Will a car start if it hasn't been touched in nine years?" Ryu asked, raising an eyebrow. He was the last person to ask about anything mechanical. He could count the number of times he'd driven a car on one hand.

"If I have anything to do with it, yes," Charlie said.

"Only because I'm here to make sure you don't screw anything up," Guile said, trying the door handle. Charlie rolled his eyes. "Keys?"

Vega sighed. He supposed he'd be needing his own, as well. If only he could remember where he put them...

"We may as well have kept sleeping," Maya muttered. "This is going to take awhile."

"I'm too awake now to get back to bed," Sakura said with a shake of her head.

"Yeah.." Chun-Li agreed. "Best to just sit back and enjoy the show."

Vega emerged from the house with two sets of keys in hand. He tossed one at Guile as he walked by, but beyond that, he was happy to let them deal with the problem of fixing the car. They seemed excited enough over it. Guile unlocked the car, and sat in the driver's seat. He popped the hood, and Charlie pushed it up. He checked the oil levels first, and frowned. "Got any motor oil around?" he called out to Vega.

"Do you think we were a family of mechanics?" Vega replied, shaking his head and frowning.

Charlie pressed his lips together. He glanced at Guile, who got out of the car. "Drain some from his?" he asked, nodding to Vega's car.

"That one's been sitting for a few months, too," he responded, but then shrugged. "But I really don't want to walk." He glanced around the garage, looking for any kind of container. Settling on an old, dusty milk jug, he cut away the top, and headed over to get the dirty work out of the way. Then he realised there wasn't a jack. Given Vega's earlier remark, there wasn't likely to be one around here at all. "We need to get the car off the ground, just enough for me to fit under there and drain the oil," Guile explained.

Vega shrugged helplessly. He couldn't even begin to think of how to do that. Then, the quiet, calm voice of the machine spoke up for the first time, saying, "Perhaps I may be of assistance." It bent over, gripped the underside of the car, and lifted the front end, showing no sense of strain at all. Guile, and everyone else, stared for a second, save for Bison, who knew he'd designed them to be this strong already.

"Jesus Christ am I glad you're on our side," Maya whispered, staring.

Guile got over the initial shock of witnessing a vehicle being lifted from the ground, and started working on draining some of the oil from the vehicle. It would be old, but better than what was in the other. While he did that, Charlie went about cleaning whatever he could from the older car. The air filter really needed replacing, but that wasn't an option now. He did his best to get it clean with what was likely by now an inert cleaning solution. It wasn't anything that had been flammable, and by now, it had probably broken down into nasty water, but it was the best he was going to get in these conditions. Guile finally came over with the oil, and they both went to work cleaning the spark plugs, dropping what little oil they could afford back into the spark plug holes. "Think this'll work?" Guile asked.

"Might be smelly, but hey," Charlie shrugged, "beats the hell outta walking."

It was nice to get to work on something so normal for a change. Charlie hadn't even seen a vehicle in three and a half years, and mechanics were something he enjoyed greatly. There were a lot of things that calmed people down-weird habits they had that made them feel more comfortable. Dealing with mechanical things was one of his. Fixing up an old car, working on a jet or other aircraft, even simple machines like bikes-it all put him in what he liked to refer to as a 'zen mood'. He supposed, maybe, it helped make him feel more in control of things. And in a situation as bizarre as the one they were in now, it certainly felt nice to have control over _something_.

"Okay," Guile said, wiping his hands on his jeans. "You want to siphon the gas or find some jumper cables?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Charlie replied with a grin. He sure as hell wasn't doing the siphoning. Guile rolled his eyes and headed back to Vega's car, this time with a garden hose in tow. Charlie looked around the garage. There _had _to be jumper cables in here somewhere. He scoured the garage, but wasn't turning up much. There was a lot of potting soil and pots, some buckets, a little box full of different packets of seeds, bird feed, laundry detergent, water, bikes, all kinds of miscellaneous things that the average family would have in a garage, but not much in the way of tools. He frowned, then glanced at the car. If they couldn't get the battery started, then all of this would have been pretty pointless.

So he headed for the last place that might logically house some jumper cables-the trunk. Reaching into the car, he located the switch, and it popped open. Inside, it smelled awful. He had to pull his shirt over his nose just to stand it, and even that wasn't helping. He grabbed the plastic bags, and tossed them to the side. They were full of old groceries. How had they just forgotten about this stuff? Then he remembered the whole murder thing, and then shrugged. Pretty good excuse, he figured. Just when he was about to give up, he spotted them, in the farthest corner of the trunk, coiled up like a little two headed snake. So the romp through the rotting food had been worth it after all.

Guile returned with some fuel, and was spitting a whole lot, which caused Charlie to grin. "Are you that thirsty?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up," Guile responded flatly, putting the hose into Charlie's hands. "You get to do this one." He nodded to the old car, and Charlie frowned, forgetting they'd have to siphon the old gasoline out of it. So the blond got to it, draining the fuel without incident, and making it look so easy all the while. Finally, they were ready to get the battery started, if possible. The cells were likely all bad by now, and Charlie was beginning to worry if any of this had been worth it. He got into the car, and started it. The engine sputtered, the warning lights on the dash flickered, the clock and radio flashed, and Charlie sighed. He'd been ready for that, of course, but it was still a noise he didn't like hearing. They weren't going to be able to roll the car out, and the other car wasn't going to fit in alongside this one.

"Battery trouble?" came the voice of Bison, and Charlie's head snapped up. He hated that a guy so big could walk so quietly.

"Yeah. No battery means no driving," Guile said. "But we need to get this car out there to jump it."

"I don't like to use my power for mundane things such as this," Bison said, approaching the front of the vehicle and looking over the exposed insides. He put his hands on the battery. "But I do not look forward to kilometers of walking in this weather, not to mention the severe time restraint we are on." Purple sparks jumped from his hands as he put his fingers over the nodes of the battery, and he nodded to Charlie. "Try it again."

And like magic, the car was running, and Charlie's lips spread into a grin. "Fantastic," he said. It really was impressive, given how little they had to work with. "Let's get the hell out of here." He put the car into reverse after Guile closed the hood, rolling the vehicle out into the yard alongside Vega's. Chun-Li clapped, and Sakura cheered, smiling widely. Everyone was relieved to see they wouldn't be walking after all.

"Good thing we don't have to walk," Maya said, looking up at the sky. They could all hear the rumble of thunder in the distance. "Sounds like a storm's headed this way."

"You guys did it!" Sakura cried. "Wow, this is a great way to start the day!"

"Everybody get a seat," Guile said, opening the passenger side door. It smelled a little, but it wasn't bad enough to deter him.

"Wait," Rose said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "The four of them should ride together, in case of separation."

But Charlie was the one who got out of the car, leaving the driver's seat open for someone else. "If that's Vega's car, he's going to want to drive it. So we should head over to that one," he said, nodding to Chun-Li and Ryu. Chun-Li frowned. Being driven around by Vega seemed like a horrible way for them to stay safe. If his personality was any indication, he would be the definition of crazy driver. It didn't help that they were in a mountainous region. But Ryu and Charlie headed to the car without question. She glanced over at Guile, who was standing by the driver's side door of the other vehicle. He shrugged at her. There wasn't a whole lot he could do to get her out of it.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise overhead, and something bright flashed through the sky. The thunderous noise was repeated, only much louder and much closer, and within seconds, they all felt a strong, brief gust of wind blow past them. They could see smoke in the distance now, and then, just a few miles away, more began to rise. "Jeeesus," Guile cried, looking up at the sky. There were more of them, bright, burning, large objects, falling fast and smashing into the earth, sending up debris and igniting anything near the site of impact.

"In the cars, _now," _Charlie said.

"No!" Sakura cried suddenly, hands over her pockets. She patted front, then back, and looked back at the house. In all of the excitement around the cars, she realised she was missing something. "I forgot! I'll be right back!" She ran inside, disappearing behind the door.

"Sakura, come back!" Ryu called after her, trying to run in, but was stopped by a strong hand around his wrist. It was Bison. He struggled, wrenching his arm from the man's grasp. "Let me go!"

"Get in the car, and go," he ordered. "Your life is too important to risk."

"Not more than hers!" he argued back, and ran in after the girl. Inside, dust was nearly raining from the shaking ceiling. Glasses rattled, floors creaked. He looked around, and another tremor shook the earth. "Sakura!" he cried out, looking around. Whatever she left, it couldn't be _this _important. He made a quick lap around the lower level of the house, and ended up back at the stairs without spotting the girl. The house shook again, and this time, a portion of the ceiling collapsed. He covered his head, backing away, coughing as he inhaled dust. He cried out for the girl again, but didn't see her. He headed for the stairs, and stopped short when he saw a figure standing there. He seemed so calm, in spite of the turbulent surroundings, but he supposed that should be expected of the man. "_Chūi ga hitsuyōdesu_," the man said with a shake of his head.

"What are you doing here?" he cried. He didn't mean to disrespect his master, but the man had shown up out of nowhere, and didn't seem at all concerned with the dangerous environment.

"_Kare wa anata no tame ni kimasu. Tsuyoite kudasai._"

Ryu wanted to ask him more, but then, the man was gone, as if he'd never been there to begin with. He spun around quickly, but saw no sign of his former master. "Ryu!" He looked up at the sound of his name, spotting Sakura at the top of the stairs. He felt a little relieved, knowing she was okay.

"Come on, get out of here, now!" Ryu shouted, holding a hand out to her. She descended the stairs quickly, and he took her by the wrist so as to assure himself she wouldn't run off again. Both bolted for the car, covering their ears at the noise of the impacts.

"_Vamos, vamos,_" Vega muttered, starting the car. Everyone covered their ears again, this time from the music that started playing loudly. "Oops," he said playfully, reaching over and turning it down.

"_-you reignite. You growl, you howl, you show your teeth, you bite-it's all right..._"

"This song about you, Vega?" Chun-Li asked, bracing herself against the side of the car as he took a particularly sharp turn quickly onto a dirt road.

"Only when it comes to you, _mi coneja," _he replied, not taking his eyes off of the dirt road ahead. Something screamed overhead, and not more than a few feet away, one of the flaming balls of rock impacted, air blast rattling the windows of the car, spraying debris everywhere.

"Go faster," Ryu put in at the sight of the impact. So Vega sped up, the others behind them doing the same.

"Okay, you're going _really _fast," Charlie said, holding onto what he and Guile had always referred to as the 'oh-shit' handle above his head. "I mean, for a road with these kinds of curves."

"Two wheels, we are on two wheels," Chun-Li said as they took a turn.

"Don't want to die," Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Go fast, go slow, what do you people want from-_Puta madre!_" Vega cried, slamming on the breaks as another rock slammed into the road ahead of them. Everyone was thrown forward against their restraints, and he swerved around it, flames already licking at nearby plants. Everyone screamed as dirt sprayed over the windshield and they lost visibility for a brief moment. Sakura was clutching Ryu tightly, Charlie had both hands on the dash as the car rumbled over the root-laden dirt road and prayed to whatever entity was listening to get them out of this in one piece.

And then Vega braked as he turned onto the main road, tires squealing and leaving streaks across the asphalt. He cried out with a smile and laughed. "Here we go, it's not so bad, eh? _Es pan comido!_" Really, there were few times in his life where he'd been more unsure of himself. Fire was raining from the sky in huge balls, slamming into the earth at high speeds and sending ejecta everywhere, and they were headed for winding mountain roads. It wouldn't be difficult to get injured badly in such a scenario. He glanced up into the rear-view mirror, saw the other car following behind, with Guile at the wheel and Bison at the passenger seat beside him. So many unusual sights in this bizarre journey of theirs. That one was fairly high up on the list.

Sakura stared out the windshield, and watched another fireball smash into the road. She clutched Ryu's arm tighter, and prayed they'd make it out alive. "What's going on?" she asked quietly.

"Just part of the game," Vega muttered cynically, speeding up as the road sloped down.

The bombardment had been brief, but intense. Stray rocks still streaked down from the sky every few minutes, but most of these were smaller, and burnt up before ever hitting the ground. Charlie watched one as it ripped through the thick layer of grey clouds, and it disintegrated into smaller rocks until it was burned up completely. They were pretty when they were harmless, horrifying when they were large enough to crush you. He glanced over at Vega, and asked, "How far til we reach a town or something?"

"Well...if we were headed towards the shore, it would not be long, but..." He trailed off, and then shrugged. "It won't be hours, but it may take some time."

"At least the meteor shower stopped," Chun-Li said with a sigh, glancing up at the sky through the window. Then, she turned around, making sure that Guile and the others were still following. They'd nearly lost them with the way Vega had been driving, but she was pleased to learn that he wasn't so horrible a driver as she thought he would be. When the circumstances were normal, at least. She waved at Guile, and gave a thumbs up in inquiry. He returned it with a nod, and a half-smile. She saw Bison in the seat beside him, glancing down at something...A phone. She realised quickly that no one in this vehicle had any way to communicate with those in the other vehicle. That was a bit of an inconvenience.

"We'll need gasoline before we get somewhere with an airport. Some new motor oil wouldn't hurt either," Charlie said. The airport was a bit of a decision made on the fly. They had to get back to the dragons, or to wherever Ken was being held captive. Figuring out where the latter was, however, would be a bit difficult. "But does anyone have any money? Otherwise, we're back to walking."

"I know Guile has some," Chun-Li said, remembering he'd had his wallet when they went in search of a bus to the airport. That seemed so long ago, but it had only been the day before. "But I don't know if it's enough to fuel two vehicles. And we'll need food, eventually..."

"We need euros, though," Vega reminded her, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. It was incredibly frustrating, being without money. He wasn't driven by a need to have it-money had never really been a big deal to him. But it was definitely inconvenient to not be able to eat, or travel. The worst part of it was that he knew he had plenty, but didn't know how to access it without his belongings. He pressed his lips together, and nodded to the glove compartment in front of Charlie. "Open that. See what's in it."

Charlie did so, and some papers pertaining to the ownership of the car were there. "Gotta renew your insurance?" he asked, confused.

Vega glanced over, and pointed. "That envelope. Open it."

Charlie obliged, pulling the thin, eight and a half by eleven envelope from its hiding place amid the papers for the car. He opened it, and slid the contents out, raising his eyebrows. "Feliu Leoni i Romani..." Charlie said as he read the identification card, and the credit card that went along with it. The card would expire next year. He held up the ID, which had a picture of a young man who looked very much like Vega, save for the fact that his hair was shorter, and brown. "Is Vega not your real name, or...?"

"It isn't...but neither is Feliu," he responded with a shake of his head. "This was a failsafe. Should I need to disappear. It's a fake identity._"_

_"_How is that going to help us?" Ryu asked, leaning forward. There were several official documents in the envelope having to do with this new identity. Sakura and Chun-Li leaned forward a little, too, and the younger girl even reached out for the identification card and grinned.

"Ha, you look so different!" Then she paused, considering the card, and asked, "What's your real name?"

"A secret," he replied.

Chun-Li sighed. "Still not sure how your fake persona is going to help us out."

"What did you think, I would adopt this identity and be completely without any kind of financial security? Feliu opened an account in 2003 with _la Caixa_, and hasn't touched the money since," Vega explained.

"So we have money now?" Sakura asked.

"_I_ have money," he corrected. "But...I suppose if it's necessary to feed you then, well, so be it..."

"Sorry to inconvenience you with our petty desires like 'not dying from starvation'," Chun-Li replied.

"Inconvenience?" Vega echoed. "No, sweetheart, it's an _honour. _We'll have a fancy dinner, you and I, it will be so romantic."

"Don't make me vomit in your car," she snapped.

"At any rate," Charlie said, shaking his head a little at the weird exchange, "this is really good news. We can still get fuel, and maybe pay for tickets to wherever we need to go." He slid the documents back into the envelope, and handed the plastic cards over to Vega. He looked down at the center console, and opened it, placing the card in there for safe keeping when something caught his eye. He hadn't seen it in a long time, and with a laugh, he drew it out of the little compartment, the car charger still plugged into it. He pulled it out completely, and plugged the other end into the cigarette lighter.

"Eyes on the road..." Chun-Li groaned as they drifted into the other lane while he did this. He glanced back up and shrugged. There wasn't anyone around, anyway. He gave a triumphant cry as the phone turned on.

"Thirty-eight missed calls...a record, I'm sure," he muttered to himself. He was sure what most of them would be about, and didn't bother to check who they'd been from. Sliding a thumb over the screen to unlock it, he made a quick call, so as to make sure it was still working. A lot of his bills were set up to be paid automatically, so that he wouldn't have to worry about them. He was happy for having made that decision, as otherwise, he'd have no service at all, and the phone would be useless.

The phone rang, and then someone picked up. "_Hola, capitan! Como es en el coche?"_ Vega asked. Then he rolled his eyes. "What do you want me to do about the smell of the car from here? I can't help it."

"Are you talking to them?" Sakura asked, nodding back at the other car. Vega nodded back in response. The phone call was kept brief, as there really wasn't too much to say-he explained where they were headed, that they needed gasoline soon, and that it could be a long drive before they reached an airport. "What kind of phone is that?" she asked after he finished the call.

Vega shrugged. "I don't keep track of these things. He just gives me a phone and I use it." He handed it back to her-it was clear she wanted to play with it. She had to lean forward a bit because of the cord it was attached to, but it would provide a decent distraction. Ryu and Chun-Li both looked down at it as she played with it. She found a web browser, and looked for a decent news website.

"Do you have one of these?" Ryu asked, confused.

"Nope."

"How did you know how to do that?" It impressed him how she seemed to know exactly what to do.

Sakura shrugged. "You've seen one phone, you've seen 'em all." She glanced over the headlines. A lot about the hard freezes, and speculations about upcoming difficulties with keeping citizens fed. A lot more about relief efforts being spread thin over coastlines everywhere as a result of the recent flooding. Nothing yet on the meteor shower, but then, maybe it hadn't been widespread. Maybe it had been confined to the local area. She hoped so, at least. She didn't want to bear the thought of more and more people getting hurt. "Do you think things will go back to normal once you beat the bad guy?" she asked to no one in particular.

No one had an answer at first. How could things be 'normal' again? Too many disasters had struck-even if they did destroy this thing before it destroyed them, a lot of damage was already done. "We don't even know who this 'bad guy' is," Vega replied with a shake of his head. "Perhaps it is too early to think of what will happen once we defeat him...if we can at all."

It was a possibility all of them had considered with dread: they may just not be strong enough to win this fight.

* * *

_Chūi ga hitsuyōdesu. __Kare wa anata no tame ni kimasu. Tsuyoite kudasai.-_Be careful. He will come for you. Be strong.


	27. Not Afraid

She was startled awake when Ryu moved suddenly. She'd been leaning against him, and somehow, managed to drift off to sleep from there. The music playing was a big help, she supposed. While some of it was upbeat and fun, but still pretty, some of it was very ambient and quiet, as if being in a dream. So she'd blame it for making her so relaxed. They weren't moving anymore, and it was getting pretty late. She glanced out the window, seeing that it was evening already. They'd been driving for a few hours by the time she fell asleep, and had stopped for gas once. There, they'd learned that the nearest airport, in some place whose name she couldn't remember, let alone pronounce, had been pretty beat up by the meteor shower. Apparently, the next best bet was all the way in Madrid, which was quite a drive. Now they were stopped again, and she realised that she was getting pretty hungry. No one seemed intent on stopping for anything better than quick snacks, so she supposed she'd go with that.

She stretched a bit, and slid out of the car, rubbing her eyes as she stood up. It was still so cold. She stuffed her hands into her pockets in an effort to keep them warm, and was suddenly reminded of the thing she'd retrieved that morning from the house. She glanced around, looking for Vega. She saw Guile getting out of the car parked next to them, and smiled to him. "How's it going, kiddo?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I fell asleep."

"Don't blame you," he said with a smile. He headed inside with the others. Maya had already gone in, and Sakura waited. Where had Vega gone? She hadn't seen him get out of the car. It was too cold to wait out here for so long. She looked around again, and saw that Bison was still in the car. The machine was sitting behind him, looking at her. It smiled, nodded towards the other vehicle, and she felt a little strange, but still smiled back at it. Why was it watching her with that look of reassurance? She glanced back at the vehicle which she'd been riding in with Vega, and saw the blond focused on his phone. He didn't look like he was going to leave the car. So she pressed her lips together, and got back in beside him in the passenger seat.

"Hi," she said awkwardly.

He glanced up at her, and raised an eyebrow. "Do you need something?" he asked.

"Why aren't you getting food?" she asked.

"Someone would recognise me," he responded with a shake of his head. She nodded, remembering that he was wanted for a lot of bad things. Bison, too, so that explained why neither one had left the cars. "And you?"

"Oh, um...I will, but..." She looked down for a second, and withdrew from her pocket a four by six photograph, holding it tightly as she talked to him. "Well, I thought maybe, if I were you, I wouldn't want that...ghost..monster thing to be the last way I ever saw my mother." He looked a little surprised, drawing his brows together as she spoke. He certainly hadn't expected her to say that. "And I found this in your house-and I mean, I didn't mean to snoop, I just couldn't sleep-so, well, here." She handed him the photograph, and he looked down at it as if he were contemplating one of the great mysteries of the universe. On it, his mother was smiling, green paint smeared over her cheek, and he, only three or so, was laughing, paint smudged on his own face as he showed the camera his colorful fingers. He thought he was going to be sick, and he sighed quietly before glancing up at Sakura.

"Well...thank you," he replied, barely above a whisper. Why had she given him this? And in here?

"Yep," she responded, unsure of what to say. She hadn't exactly planned this out in much detail, and things were beginning to feel pretty tense, so she said good-bye and slipped out of the vehicle.

He leaned his head against the window, and stared down at the photo. He flipped it over, reading something his mother had written there-'looking forward to all of the beautiful things you'll make, my little artist.' She thought he'd make beautiful things. He flipped it back over and bit his tongue, willing himself to remain composed. He couldn't have become more of a disappointment. If she saw him now, knew all of the terrible things he'd done...

Burying his head in his hands, he cried, unable to remember the last time he had.

It was a little while longer before everyone was ready to go again. It was dark out, and Sakura could've sworn the temperature had fallen a few more degrees in the ten or so minutes they'd taken in the gas station. Charlie glanced over at Vega, who looked a little distraught, and said, "We can switch, you know." Vega shrugged, and started the car anyway. The car got warmer, becoming more comfortable overall. They pulled back onto the highway, the others following behind, Maya now at the wheel. She was already irritated with taking on the responsibility of driving these bizarre people around, and the trip had already just started again.

The road was full of wrecks, cars that looked charred and smashed pushed out of the highway and onto the side of the road. They all looked around at the destruction. Fires were still burning on the side of the road and in some of the cars. Sakura looked away from one particularly disturbing scene-a few bodies lined up on the side of the road, covered by blankets. Relief workers were stretched thin all over, most having been so concerned with coastal evacuations and recovery of those left behind that the sudden rain of fire meant help would come slowly, and far later than it was needed.

"Jesus," Charlie whispered as they came to a bend. To their right, there was nothing to impede their view of distant slopes that were still on fire. Veins of flames coursed over the mountainsides far into the distance, black smoke rising steadily into the air. It was eerily beautiful, the night lit by the embers and flames, but the destruction and death it brought with it made it difficult to enjoy the strange sight.

"What's going to happen next?" Sakura asked quietly. No one had an answer, continuing to watch the fires burn until it was once again blocked from their view. Such an imposing sight began to weigh down on the four of them. How could they possibly be expected to fix this? Even if they destroyed the force behind it, the world had been ruined. So much had gone wrong, it felt like they could never make it right again. They were all quiet for some time. Fate had not been particularly kind to any of them, as of late. There was a lot to deal with, and the problems were becoming more and more severe. Would they ever be able to fix what had happened? The world was a mess, and they still hadn't even identified what they were fighting yet.

It was nearly an hour from the gas station when things got worse. The group was still mostly quiet, watching fires burn in the woods near them, or miles away. Sirens tore through the night once every so often as police, ambulances, or fire trucks sped along by them. There weren't too many cars on the road now. Vega broke the silence with a quiet statement of, "We're about to have a problem."

The mood in the car changed noticeably, from sorrow to tension. "What is it?" Charlie asked. He was still slightly out of the loop with these 'monster' things. He'd been there when the squid attacked, but that was the only time he'd encountered the creatures. And then, he'd presumed, it was really just a squid of some kind. He wasn't well versed in marine biology, and it didn't look obviously mutated, just very, very large.

Everyone kept their eyes focused outside of the car, searching the dark for some threat. And then, Vega slammed the breaks, startling everyone. Looking forward, they all saw the figure standing in the middle of the road. "What is this idiot doing?" Vega muttered under his breath, laying on the horn. But the man didn't move.

"That's our problem," Ryu said quietly, eyes narrowing. Flaming red hair pulled back atop the man's head was a clear indicator of his identity. The black gi and prayer beads were yet another. The eyes were different, now, no longer burning red but a deep purple, and that black mist from before swirled gently around his limbs as he glared menacingly at the stopped vehicle. Vega's phone buzzed madly beside him, and he glanced away briefly from the demonic figure ahead of them to answer it.

"What's going on?" Bison snapped.

"Some...thing is in the road and-"

Suddenly, it made its move, leaping high into the air over them. "Get out of the car!" Ryu shouted, pulling Sakura out of the vehicle with him, everyone following his orders just as Akuma buried his fist into the roof of the car. His balled up hand went straight through the metal, the entire roof suffering a deep dent from the impact.

"What do we do?" Sakura whispered, staring at the horrifying man, who snarled angrily at his escaped prey.

"We?" Ryu echoed. "Get back over there with Rose, she'll keep you safe."

"But-!"

"Don't argue with me about this, Sakura," Ryu said firmly. She frowned, but ultimately nodded, and headed back to the car. Akuma wasn't concerned with her, and Ryu knew this, but he didn't want the girl interfering. She would only try to help, but would end up hurting herself in the process. Ryu focused, his limbs hardening into rock, and he assumed an offensive stance. Chun-Li stepped up beside her friend, ready to help, feeling water rise from her fingertips. Charlie got in line with them, too, a slight breeze kicking up. Vega, not one to be left out, followed up, running his thumbs over his fingertips, sparks jumping as he anticipated the man's next move.

"Too much of a coward to face me alone?" the gruff voice mocked, stepping off of the vehicle.

"I'm not afraid of you," Ryu hissed. He nodded to the others, as if to tell them to back off.

"You can't do this by yourself," Chun-Li said with a shake of her head. "Look at him-he's being manipulated by the same thing Vega's mother was."

"I don't need any help," Ryu snapped. "I'll handle this."

"Then let's see your power, boy," Akuma hissed, and rushed Ryu. He responded in kind, running towards Akuma, meeting him with a fist. The demonic figure ducked low, whirled quick, and seized Ryu by the shirt. The younger man was tossed into the vehicle, damaging it further. Ryu gasped for breath-in spite of his body taking on the hardness of stone, his breath still rushed from his body at the impact. There was the smallest of aches, but not nearly as bad as it would have been if he'd been flesh instead. He rolled out of the way of Akuma's knee as the man dropped back to the earth with such a great force that the pavement cracked upon impact. Ryu jumped to his feet, landing a kick to Akuma's chest. But the man was fast, and Ryu could've sworn he quite simply disappeared before he felt a fist connect with his back, between his shoulder blades. He stumbled forward, turning just in time to block another attack with his raised forearms. Akuma growled, and grabbed him by the arms, forcing him to the ground. Ryu cried out as he hit the asphalt, feeling it split beneath him again. He rolled to the side again and again as Akuma continuously tried to smash his foot into the younger man's chest. Finally, Ryu grabbed for him, catching him by the ankle and shoving hard. The older man stumbled back, growling but regaining his footing as Ryu jumped to his feet.

"Where did you come from, Akuma?" Ryu asked. He paused in his questioning, grunting as he got in a few punches. "How did you get here? Who are you working for?"

"I work for none but myself, you foolish child!" he roared, grabbing Ryu and thrusting him headfirst into the car. Ryu cried out in pain, holding his head. He felt something wet, pulled his hand away, and saw blood. He gritted his teeth. He couldn't lose this fight. "Do you think I am some pawn?"

Ryu pulled back his hands, focusing as much as he could on holding the energy there. With a cry of "_Hadouken!_" he brought his hands forward again, a bright, green light smashing into Akuma. Ryu stared. He'd never seen it turn that colour before. Akuma growled as he fell back, his arms bleeding from the impact. He bared his teeth at Ryu, purple crackling at his fingertips. "I have been hunting you since that last confrontation, and never before have I felt so ready to take you under my wing." The man extended a hand, that black mist still entwining itself around his fingers, encircling his wrists and hands. "Follow me, Ryu, and you will know what power and strength really are."

"Something's wrong," Ryu said with a shake of his head. "You're under the opponent's influence!" Akuma had never been one to be trusted, but it was clear that he was being controlled by outside forces. He was much quicker than ever before, stronger, and Ryu watched as that mist continued to swirl. "Akuma, help us find him! The world is in danger, but you can help us find him!" He knew that had to mean _something _to the man. He would not have compassion for others, but surely he must've wanted to continue to exist.

"What do I care for your plight?" Akuma snapped. "If you will not join me, then I will destroy you."

"He doesn't realise he's being controlled," Charlie said, shaking his head.

Akuma struck, getting Ryu in the stomach with a fist. The younger man groaned, and stumbled back, but quickly went on the offensive. He attempted to execute a shoryuken, but Akuma was too quick, once again disappearing.

"Ryu," Chun-Li called as they all searched for the demonic warrior. "We need to get away, this is too dangerous." The man was already terribly strong without the unseen foe augmenting his power.

"Yes," Akuma snapped, having suddenly appeared again behind Ryu. He had the younger man in a chokehold, and grinned maliciously as he strangled him. Ryu gasped and struggled to breathe, fighting to get away from the older man. "That's right, run. Run away, little coward. Run, but I'll find you."

Ryu pulled his arm away, and focused all of his strength into burying his elbow into Akuma's side. It was enough to get him free. He turned around to face his opponent. "I'm not going to run," he hissed back.

"I can smell your fear," Akuma growled. "You'll turn away from the Satsui no Hadou, again...You fear it. You are a coward, and unworthy of the power which has been bestowed upon you." In a flash, the man was inches from Ryu, holding him by the throat. Ryu gritted his teeth, forcing his feet off the ground and planting both into Akuma's chest. The younger man gasped for breath as he was once again freed, and then, Akuma was ready to deliver a fierce blow when his fist stopped mid-swing. The man growled, eyes finding the source of the problem.

"I can't hold it forever," Bison snapped, approaching from the vehicle. The machine was on his heels, appearing passive and calm in spite of the situation. "Get away, Ryu, before you're killed."

"I can handle this!" Ryu responded, curling his fists at his side. "Let him go!"

"You are not yet strong enough to face this enemy," the machine said, shaking its head slowly. Akuma snarled as it got closer to him, muscles tensing as he tried to force his fist against Bison's telekinetic hold. "He has made his move. Call to Earth."

"Let me fight!" Ryu demanded. There was a brief tremor beneath them as he shouted, and everyone exchanged glances.

Akuma chuckled. "Let him fight..." His eyes wandered, finding Sakura standing beside Rose, not too far from Bison. "Once I've defeated him, I will need a new cub. And she is eager to learn."

"I'll kill you, you bastard!" Ryu shouted, and this time, the earth did more than tremble. Nearly everyone fell to their knees as the ground shook intensely, hairline cracks splitting the pavement. Ryu ran full speed at Akuma, and unleashed the same uppercut on him as he had on Sagat years before. The man was thrown from Bison's hold by the sheer force of it, falling hard to the ground, blood spraying in an arc overhead. The purple eyes flickered to red, the mist dispersing momentarily. And then, he was as he had been before, gasping for breath on his side, blood flowing from his nose and lips. In spite of the pain, he smiled maliciously, eyes finding Ryu.

"Ryu, call Earth!" Rose demanded, not at all liking the direction this was headed. If Ryu did not gain control of himself soon, then he would be killed by Akuma. In spite of his own new strengths, the opponent was simply stronger. It was useless to fight, but Ryu wasn't thinking clearly now. And Rose worried that he would lose himself in the same way Vega had, given the tremors that still shook beneath them, the cracks that were slowly widening.

"Ryu...please!" Sakura cried, shaking her head. She was terrified for her friend, who seemed to have forgotten his surroundings, tunnel vision focused on Akuma. "Call Earth, please Ryu!"

And then, the quakes stopped. Ryu stared, watching as Akuma climbed to his feet. "What am I doing?" Ryu whispered, eyes shifting to Sakura. She was afraid. Afraid of him. How could he make his friend fear him like that? A sharp jolt ran through his jaw and neck as Akuma's fist connected with his cheek, and brought him back to reality. He stumbled back, and focused on blocking the attacks rather than delivering them himself. With what little concentration he could spare, he searched for Earth, desperately sending him the image of their surroundings. Or, he hoped he was. He had no idea if this worked over such a long distance, but he thought of the dragon, prayed it would receive his message.

As if to confirm his hopes, a roar split the night, and two tons of furious draconian weight barreled into a startled Akuma. Ryu stumbled out of the way just in time, panting hard. Earth cried out again, throwing his horned head from side to side as Akuma tried to crawl away from the beast. "Where do we go?" Chun-Li cried, taking Ryu by the arm to steady him.

"I don't know," Ryu responded slowly, disoriented. He tasted blood in his mouth. He was overcome with shame. How could he have let himself lose control like that? He glanced over at Vega, remembering how terrifying he had been the night before. Had he frightened his friends just as much?

"Decide, quick!" Charlie insisted as Akuma pulled himself to his feet again, more and more mist accumulating around him. It looked as if he were ready to fight the dragon.

But before Ryu could conceive of an image of a safe place that wasn't sunken underneath several feet of water, the highway was gone. The cars were gone. Akuma, thankfully, was gone. Ryu looked around once more to confirm the last point. He didn't like the idea that the man may have followed them, somehow. "Who made the decision?" Ryu asked. Everyone else looked just as puzzled about their surroundings. It was a desert. Slightly chilly, most certainly not as warm as any of them would expect. There were sharp drops and cliffs, gorges and canyons, caves, miles of baked, brown rock, and no vegetation.

"I have decided for you," the machine responded. It turned its eyes to the dragon beside it. "You know this place."

_I know all the places of the world, _he responded with a nod. He'd made them, after all.

"Why have you brought them here?" Fire asked, turning his head to survey the desolate land. It had changed very much since last he'd been here. The beautiful vegetation was all gone, leaving nothing but infertile soils. Nothing would grow here again. It reminded him all too much of the future he'd come from not long ago. This was man's ultimate fate, regardless of how hard they may try to change it. This world would all be barren, someday.

"They are not yet strong enough to fight for this planet," the machine answered.

"How will coming here help them?" Bison asked.

"It will be revealed soon enough." The android nodded, urging them to move on. "Show them the way, Earth."

The dragon lowed in response, but began to move forward. Air and Fire both took off, wheeling overhead as the procession below marched forward. Water shrank to a more manageable size, and Chun-Li bent to pick her up. It was nice to have the dragons around again, she thought. At first, it had been too surreal, and she'd wanted nothing to do with all of this. But now, they were a comfort. She felt much more safe with the four of them around.

"What do you think the big secret is?" Sakura whispered as they walked up a slope.

"Obviously we have to find Yoda out here in one of these caves to train them in the ways of the Force," Guile said, rolling his eyes. He'd already been to a deserted wasteland once, and wasn't enjoying this one any better. He was tiring of the games, the running around, the slow crawl towards the rescue of their friends and the planet.

"Will," Charlie said severely, facing the man. "This isn't like Dagobah at all-it's obviously Tattoine." Sakura giggled in spite of herself. The relief of being transported away from Akuma safely made her a little giddy. Their jokes weren't all that funny, but after coming away from such a fierce fight, anything would lighten the mood.

"Then we better keep our eyes peeled for Sand people," Chun-Li added with a nod.

"I don't think we have to worry, their blast points aren't very accurate," Vega put in nonchalantly. Bison sighed a little,and shook his head. The tension was slowly eroding from the atmosphere, and the bizarre little conversation was making all of them feel a little better.

"What are you guys talking about?" Ryu wondered, drawing his brows together in confusion. Making _almost _all of them feel a little bit better. Rose smiled at his confusion. She wasn't entirely certain about what they were on about, but it was all amusing nonetheless.

"Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that you've never seen Star Wars," Charlie said, slinging an arm around Ryu. Ryu frowned. "Let me tell you a story, from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."


	28. Lifetime of Memories

"So...who wants to go in the creepy, possibly bear infested cave first?" Guile muttered as they approached the mouth of one of many caverns in the honeycomb of caves.

"Bears don't live in the desert," Charlie said.

"Coyote then, I don't know," Guile responded with a sigh.

"It is quite safe," the machine said. "I assure you."

"This place is revered by all living creatures," Air added with a slight nod. She looked from the mouth of the cave and then to the group of humans standing before it. "It is a very sacred place."

"What is it?" Ryu asked.

"It is the place you four were buried in," she responded. That drew an uneasy quiet over the group.

"That has to be some sort of bad luck," Maya said, shaking her head.

"How can they be in there if they are out here?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Those are the bodies which they inhabited many years ago," Air clarified. "And those bodies still cling to a significant portion of the gifts that we gave them."

"That's what we're here for, then?" Chun-Li asked. "To get that back?"

Air nodded in response. The four fighters exchanged uneasy glances. They all felt the same way as Viper-surely it had to be a bad omen to wander into a tomb that housed themselves. Even if it were only their past selves. "Well..." Ryu said, taking the lead. "We can't wait around forever." With a deep breath, he stepped forward, walking into the cave. It was intimidating, but he knew they couldn't waste anymore time. Ken needed them. The whole world did. They had to keep going.

Sakura followed dutifully without hesitation. And then, everyone else filed in behind them, save the dragons, who could not fit comfortably through the confined and narrow corridors of rock. This was intentional, however. The four creatures had little desire to return to that place. The tunnels were dark, and everyone began to wonder if they were even moving at all. They tried to remain confident in the assurances of Air and the machine that the caves were free of predators-or other unsavoury creatures. Maya continued along behind Chun-Li and Guile, keeping a hand pressed against the cold rock wall at all times. A sudden change in texture made her let out a startled cry, and everyone responded with a demand to know what the problem was. "I-woo, sorry," she breathed in relief. It wasn't alive, whatever she'd touched. It was just as cold as the walls, shaped oblong, with a wide, deep top, something dry inside, almost like wood. "There's something on the wall." She ran her hands along it now, focusing a little more. She felt it move when she wiggled it, and then, pulled it free of the wall.

A soft blue light lit the cave, and Bison held his phone's screen towards the object in question. "It's a torch," he announced. He held out his hand, and Maya gave it up without much complaint. Bison pointed one end towards Vega, who stared back and raised an eyebrow. "_Light _it," Bison demanded irritably. Vega looked embarrassed, and quickly complied. The torch was lit, and the cave was aglow with soft, flickering light. There were torches evenly spaced along the walls every few feet, though this had been the first one so far. Down the path they'd come from, there was no indication that any man had ever entered this cavern before. But from this deep point forward, there was no mistaking it. Bison took another from the wall ahead, and lit it with the first, handing it back to whoever was willing to take it. They continued this until two more torches were lit, and a substantial amount of light surrounded them. Having light in the dark made everyone feel a bit more confident.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the corridor emptied out into a larger area. The four torches weren't yet enough to light the entire room, but it seemed to be fairly circular. Each of them stepped in, looking around, struggling to see in the dim light. "Here," Rose said, pointing to a trough that ran the circumference of the room. There was some sort of liquid in it, and Ryu touched the torch he carried to it. It lit up instantly, the flame spreading around the entire room.

Rocky walls had been sanded down to something smooth. Tapestries hung from the walls, each telling four different stories of the brave acts that the bearers of the gifts of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water had committed throughout their long lives. Four alcoves had been carved into the rock, each housing a different tomb. Carved above each of these were stylized images of the dragons, indicating which tomb was which. At the centre of the room were four life-sized statues, each one bearing the armour and weapons of those whose likenesses they were formed in. The four tombs were draped with cloths of different colours, each corresponding to their gift. "Wow," Sakura breathed, amazed at the intricacies in the art hidden away in this vault beneath the earth. "How has no one ever found this before?"

"The cave paintings in Lascaux are seventeen thousand years old, but weren't found until the forties," Vega responded, looking around the room. It was beautiful, but entirely too unsettling for him to enjoy fully. "I suppose it wouldn't be inconceivable that no one has yet stumbled upon this."

"They look just like you guys," Maya whispered, walking around the statues slowly. Even beneath the helmets, she could tell how similar they were.

"Look at that hair," Guile said with a smile, nodding up at Charlie's thousand-year old self. Charlie frowned. It did look like him with a mop of wavy hair escaping from beneath a helmet bearing large golden feathers. "You hippie." Guile punched his friend in the shoulder playfully, and Charlie smirked, shaking his of them took some time inspecting nearly everything in the room, yet disturbing nothing. It felt blasphemous to even be there, let alone to touch anything.

"What are we supposed to do?" Ryu wondered, tearing his eyes away from a detailed tapestry of a man fighting a monster.

"Look upon yourselves," the machine said. "The gift the dragons gave you so long ago is torn between remaining with who you were before," here it indicated the tombs, "and who you are now." It spread a hand to indicate the four of them. "It has remained with these bodies for thousands of years, but it is time for you to take it back." They hesitated, not at all wanting to see their own corpses, rotted and disgusting, a reminder of their own mortality and ultimate fate. But they had no other choice.

Ryu was first to overcome this obstacle, driven by his need to rescue his friend from danger. He knew, too, that it was best to get this over with. There was no sense waiting around. Standing at the tomb draped by the deep green cloth, he spread his hands over its soft surface. Remarkably, no dust had accumulated, and the cloth felt as though it had just been placed here the day before. He pulled it aside, and moved the cover of the tomb, bracing himself for a grisly image. But he was surprised to find no such thing. The body in the tomb was still virtually his own twin, looking as if he were sleeping peacefully, ready to wake at any second. Ryu drew his brows together, inspecting the man. It was surreal, to see what amounted to himself, dressed in old clothes, with such long hair left untied. The fact that the body had not decomposed at all was an odd one, but he supposed, stranger things had happened on this journey so far.

Charlie pushed his aside next, finding the body inside in a similarly pristine state. The man looked like him, with a light amount of facial hair, and that long, wavy hair that made him look so different. He was dressed in a pretty swanky tunic, embroidered with gold at the collar and cuffs. His old self was stylish, for the times, he supposed. Opposite him, Chun-Li was looking at her old self with some consternation. She was dressed in blue silks, hair left to flow freely, and she wondered how the body looked so perfect in spite of the years. She looked up, finding Charlie's eyes. He shrugged, knowing exactly was she was wondering. And a few feet from her, Vega struggled to pry open the tomb. He set his hands on the cold stone, and inhaled, not at all wanting to face what was inside. Death was something that simultaneously entranced him and terrified him, because he knew when he died, nothing very pleasant would be waiting for him. He was just as surprised as the others to find his old self completely in tact, although dressed in leathery animal skins, and a little younger than himself. He took a step back, and looked around at the others.

"So, fairly high on the list of weird crap we've seen is the fact that these thousand year old bodies haven't aged a day," Charlie announced first, breaking the tense silence.

"It's the...'gift', isn't it?" Chun-Li questioned, feeling a bit silly by referring to it as such. It felt very dramatic, theatrical almost. She looked back down at her former self. "It's what's keeping them so perfect."

"So when we take it back, they're going to melt away, Last Crusade style?" Charlie wondered, raising an eyebrow. He didn't really want to see that.

"Only one way to find out," Ryu said, looking back down at the body in the tomb. A soft, eerie green glow emanated from the corpse, and Ryu drew his brows together. Was this it? It was something tangible? The body seemed to become insubstantial as the glow spread over it, and then, broke into hundreds of tiny points of light, wafting gently on a non-existent breeze. The other three were experiencing the same phenomenon, corpses dissipating into colourful photons. Charlie blinked rapidly as bright points of gold drifted up softly. Blue ones whirled past Chun-Li. And red ones lifted away from Vega. They were bright enough to cast their own light around the cavern, and all of them watched with awe as the colourful little stars swirled overhead. Then they snowed down on them gently, and a lifetime of old memories assaulted their consciouses in the blink of an eye. They each felt it, a massive headache as their vision blurred and darkened, until they fell to their knees, then to the ground, passing out altogether.

* * *

_"Hold on, just hold on..."_

_The boy sputtered in response, blood seeping out of his lips. The man gritted his teeth at the wet sound, holding the boy tighter as he ran. He had to make it, had to find his way back to the healer. But they were so far, the battlefield still too near to safely make it out alive. Regardless of these facts, he ran, glancing back over his shoulder to assure himself that no one was following him. His wounds were not so grievous, and with the rush of adrenaline fueling him, he barely noticed them at all. No, his son's wounds were much more prevalent in his mind. His wife died in the initial raid, but he wouldn't give himself a second to think about it. There would be time to mourn her, but now, his son needed him. There was still a chance he could be saved._

_A cry went up into the air-a warning. The man looked up, glancing all around as he ran, and then, he could hear up ahead the unfortunately familiar sound of a volley of arrows, the screams of the men who were their targets. He was headed straight for another fight. "There has to be a way out of here," he hissed. Fire and death were behind him in his village. And ahead was yet more war. The boy in his arms gave a cry, and the man felt him grip his shirt harder. It broke his heart to hear the noise, and only urged him on faster. His lungs burned, with all the smoke in the air, but he knew he couldn't stop running. Every second he stood still was another second the boy came closer to dying._

_So he ducked fallen trees, navigated around flames, bursting out of the woods and into the hills where the people of his village who hadn't the strength or courage to fight ran in droves, screaming. The foreigners invading from the south were relentless men, and very well organised. Rumour had it that these men had conquered the nearly the entire world, this country being all that was left free. The man's people had traded with the southerners before, but now they were here for things other than materials. They were here for prisoners. He was resolved to not become one of them.  
Running over the hills, he glanced out around at the others. Some of them were shameful-capable of fighting back the foreigners, but too afraid. If it weren't for his son's injuries, he would have fought back. It was much too late for that now. Running further, he plunged back into the confines of the forest. It was still so far... He looked down at his son, who still groaned and held tightly to his father. Would he survive? He prayed, and kept running._

_He was forced to stop when he stumbled upon her. He skidded to a halt, nearly running into the enormous creature, which lifted its head and considered him quietly, deciding whether or not he was a threat. The man hesitated himself, taking a step back, staring up in terror. Dragons were spoken of in old stories, but he'd never seen one in person. He'd heard others claim occasionally to have seen one in the sky, or walking the fields, or perching on some mountain or cliff. He wasn't sure that he always believed such claims. Now, it seemed, that he may be the one making them himself. If he lived to escape it._

_He turned, ready for it to give chase, when a gentle voice reached his ears, asking, "What has happened to your child?"_

_He whipped his head around, met with the concerned gaze of the creature. Did it care for the welfare of a human? Or did it simply know easy prey when it saw it? "What care have you for such a thing, serpent? We will not be your next meal!" the man snapped, and continued running. The dragon did give chase, and he felt panic well up in him. It took off into the air, and then, seemed to disappear entirely. The man stared up into the sky, searching for the predator as he ran._

_"I would never eat a human." The man gasped, coming again to a halt as the dragon was now in front of him again. "You should not believe all of the stories that you hear."_

_The man sighed impatiently, but said, "Then I apologise, my lady, for my insolence, but I must be moving on!"_

_"Where do you take him?"_

_"To be healed, but I can not do so if you continue to question me!" the man cried, frustrated with the sudden obstacle._

_"But it is far. You will not make it in time."_

_"I must try!"_

_Her eyes softened, and she approached the man. "I will take you there."_

_He narrowed his eyes. "How can I trust you?"_

_"You have my word."_

_"The word of a dragon is not said to be worth much."_

_"Judge for yourself." A pair of large claws wrapped around the man before he had a chance to respond, and he struggled in despair. He'd failed his son. The creature would kill them both, now. He held tighter to the boy, who was shaking and whimpering with fear now. Was it not enough that the boy should suffer such a wound, but now he was forced into becoming the next meal of this horrid beast as well?_

_"I'm sorry," the man whispered, squeezing tighter. The boy shook his head in response._

_But then, the dragon spiraled down softly, placing the man gently upon the grass. Not more than a few feet away was the tent that the healer lived in. The man stared in awe, then glanced back up at the dragon. He nodded a quick thanks, and rushed inside, leaving his son in the care of the doctor. There was little else he could do for his son, and was told to leave, so as to not get in the way. He would be called upon if his assistance were needed or if his son... He shook his head. He didn't want to think of that._

_So he turned his eyes back up to the dragon, and said, "Thank you for your help. I...I feel terrible for having misjudged you, my lady."_

_"You can not help it. I know how myself and my siblings are thought of in some places."_

_The man dropped to one knee, and looked up to her. "If there is anything I may do for you in return, anything at all, ask it of me. You have helped me to save my son, and that is a debt that I could never properly repay."_

_"You have a kind heart, my friend," she responded with a nod. "Then, perhaps, I will take you into my service, as you have offered..."_

_"What would you have me do?"_

_"There is a war coming, and I need someone to fight at my side..." _

* * *

_Blood painted the sand in sporadic splatters as spectators cheered their kinsmen on. A single prisoner, barely old enough to be considered a man, was giving the soldiers of Rome a tough time of proving their worth to their Emperor. The boy charged another soldier, knowing that any hesitations and mistakes meant death here. He'd watched, filled with horror, as other prisoners-some Roman, some from foreign places he would likely never see-fought in the arena against the soldiers in this unfortunate tournament. Every other prisoner who'd gone to this ring before him had fallen to the soldiers. Even now, their blood still stained the sand. So far, he himself had fought three men, and in each round, he left them all bleeding on the ground, and they were dragged away to be treated for their wounds. But he, in spite of those he'd accumulated, was forced to continue fighting. He did not understand what was going on-he didn't speak their language, and in spite of his home having been taken by these people, he had no intentions of learning it._

_And now he fought against three men at once. It felt quite hopeless, but he didn't stop. He knew for each one of these men he defeated, more would be sent out in their place, and that suited him just fine. He would take half their army this way, if he could, and so he continued fighting these men until a commanding voice cut through the din of the fight and the roar of the crowd. "What now have you done here? Why do these men slay each other-for your entertainment?"_

_The soldiers dropped to one knee, bowing their heads, and then looking up to where the Emperor sat. The boy couldn't understand what the voice had said, and was thrown off by the sudden stop. Confused, he followed their line of sight.. He stared in awe at the creature now perched beside the Emperor, a magnificent, winged beast with a horned head, skin as red as the blood staining the arena._

_"They fight to prove their worth, my lord," the Emperor said, bowing his head to the dragon. "Only the strongest Roman may fight at your side."_

_"How strong, then, can your soldiers be if they are so easily defeated by a single boy?" the dragon questioned, nodding at the fierce prisoner in the arena._

_The Emperor had no response for that, sputtering as he fought to find a way to defend his country's strength. But the dragon cut him off, saying, "I will take him, then."_

_"My lord, no!" the Emperor cried, standing to his feet. "He is but some Iberian savage, a menace to the Empire! Thief and rebel! You deserve a strong warrior, a refined and cunning man, not some filthy child!"_

_"I have made my decision. Release this...savage and continue with your civilised games of murder and death..." the dragon responded. The Emperor wanted to continue to argue, but knew it would be foolish to do so against one so powerful and wise. The creature lifted into the air, spreading its wings to glide softly down the bloodied boy in the arena. He gripped his sword tighter as the dragon landed in the sand, assuming a defensive stance. He knew he stood little chance against it, but it would not stop him from fighting any harder. But the dragon chuckled. "What is your name, boy?"_

_Was this a trick? Some sort of humiliation before death? He raised his sword, to show he wasn't intimidated. Tired, but not intimidated. The dragon laughed again. "You have some spirit! But your fight is done for this day."_

_The dragon called for two guards, who snapped to attention immediately. It spoke to them, and the boy wondered what he was telling them. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, ready for things to turn wrong at any second. But then the dragon looked at him again, and said, "Your wounds will be treated, and you will be fed. Take solace in the fact that you have my reassurance of your safety. No man would dare to go against my orders, if they value their lives." __What was this creature that it spoke like humans, commanded such great authority that even the Emperor of Rome submitted to him? He'd heard stories about these things, though he'd always passed it off as older warriors trying to frighten the younger ones. Stories of the Romans' bond with some ancient creature, that it was the protector of the Empire. Could this thing be it?_

* * *

_Glancing over her shoulder, she walked at a brisk pace. Was she being followed by Imperial watchdogs? She thought for certain she'd given them the slip this time, but it was difficult to tell for sure. There were so many people in the roads, they could blend in quite easily, and she'd never know they were following her. She wore her hair long and plain, not at all wanting some elabourate braids with which to draw attention to herself. Her clothes were bordering on filthy. She didn't even put on shoes. She was a peasant, today._

_This is the manner in which the wife of the Emperor of China walked the streets on her way out of the city. It was all in hopes of retaining some secrecy. This place was becoming more like a cage each day, and she couldn't stand it any longer. Maybe someone would recognise her eventually. But she would taste free air first. In spite of her urgency, she walked at a regular gait, not wanting to attract attention. Her bag was heavy on her back, but it was a burden she happily carried._

_She did not love her husband. It was not something that was unheard of, she realised. And she should count herself as lucky. She would be well provided for. And so would any children she may one day have. But was the wealth worth it if she was miserable with him? She did not think so, but did not have much of a say in this matter. And perhaps it was childish of her to run from him. But she wanted out. This was the only way she knew how._

_The air was warm, the sky clear, the river ran over rocks in a melodious rush. And she took all of these to be good omens. The world was in agreement with her actions. She'd walked this path before, the first time she was caught by her husband's soldiers. They'd warned her of the danger posed to a woman wandering alone. And this frustrated her greatly. Was she so fragile? Helpless? Trapped? She bit her lip, suppressing a sigh. Perhaps she was all of those things. But she wouldn't be anymore. She would find a way to become stronger, perhaps find someone to teach her to fight. She would not stand for the life of a housewife anymore, even if she were the most powerful woman in China. She had simply stumbled into that power by chance, and to her, that nullified it. It was a fake power. Empress was just a word. She would learn real strength this way._

_A day into her journey, and no one had found her. She was deep into the woods now. They would likely be sending search parties for her. What would she say when they found her? That she meant to come back? Lost track of where she was? That someone had kidnapped her? Could she, when the time came to face her husband, who did care for her and provide for her, that she couldn't bear to be his wife anymore? "I will not be defined by the man I marry," she whispered to herself in an attempt to justify her actions._

There is a wisdom in your words, my dear.

_She gasped, searching around for the source of the voice. It was a woman, somewhere, hiding in the woods perhaps. She'd sounded sincere in her remark, not at all mocking. "Who is there? Do not hide from me," she said, still searching the forest._

Hide? I would never hide.

_She put a hand to her head. "Then...where are you that I can not see you?"_

You simply aren't looking in the right place. _The woman turned her eyes to the river, where something splashed quietly against the shore. Her eyes grew wide as she saw it-rubbery, blue-green skin, beautiful and elegant, wisdom in her eyes. She slithered onto the land, considering the woman who stood before her. It was a dragon, a sign of luck and fortune. How had she, of all people, stumbled upon this creature? The honour should have gone to someone with a greater need. She bowed her head to it._

_"I am honoured by your presence, my lady...but please...do not waste your gifts on me."_

What gifts have I for you?

_"Good fortune...It should go to one with a greater need than I."_

And why are you not worthy of a happy future?

_"I have everything. I have thrown it away in a moment of selfishness," she responded. Before the dragon, she felt humbled, and now regretted her actions. She had shirked her duties as a wife. She was still too much of a child to face the responsibilities, and felt ashamed for it. But the dragon asked for elabouration, and the woman complied._

It seems, then, that you do not have everything. Without happiness, and love, what good is there in life?

_"My husbands loves me. And so I should love him back," the woman responded simply. "To be his wife should be a noble enough ambition for me, but I am not satisfied. I've brought him shame."_

Love can not be forced upon anyone, _the dragon responded with a shake of her head. _Your quest for a greater strength is a noble one in itself, and you should not be ashamed of it. _The dragon stopped then, as if considering something, and then continued. _I have need of a companion. A warrior to wield a great power.

_"My lady, forgive me, but you do not think that I am capable of this, do you? I have not the strength, nor the experience..."_

There is more to consider of a warrior than sheer strength. And none have experience with the duty that I seek to bestow upon them. _The serpentine figure seemed to smile with her eyes as she looked the wandering Empress over. _Please, consider my proposition.

_The Empress hesitated, but ultimately, she agreed. How could one refuse the requests of a dragon?  
_

* * *

_"You have been watching me for many evenings now."_

_There was no response. But he had come to not expect one. He continued in his practise, arms and legs moving slowly but purposefully as he went through his drills. He enjoyed the silent companion who watched him on pleasant evenings. He knew the creature meant no harm, but could not figure out its interest in him. He still liked to speak to it, in hopes of one day learning more about it._

_"Summer evenings are very mild. I think this is my favourite time of year."_

_The creature snuffled in response, and he heard it shake its head quickly. The man drew his exercises to a close, and bowed his head. He searched for the creature in the failing light, spotting it among the trees not more than a few feet away. "I would like to learn more about you, one day. I hear you watch many men around the country... Some of them are quite scared of you, you realise?"_

_There was a lowing noise, as if the creature was upset. _I do not mean to frighten anyone...

_It startled him, the sourceless voice. It was not as if a man had spoken, but he clearly heard it. He glanced around, just to make sure he really was alone, other than the creature... His eyes widened at the prospect. Had the creature been the one to speak? So he attempted to respond. "Then maybe you should tell someone why you watch us so closely."_

I like your dances.

_The young man stifled a laugh. It really was the creature! And it thought they were dancing, of all things? He supposed their practise could sometimes seem similar to a dance, with the slow and graceful movements. But he knew many men would feel insulted had they heard the creature say such a thing. _"It is not a dance, my mysterious friend. We are fighters. This is our practise."

You are a fighter?

_He nodded in response. "And so are the others you have watched these past few weeks."_

I am meant to look for a fighter. However..._ There was another lowing noise, and the creature settled down, leaves rustling as it did so. _Fighter frighten me.

_"You should not be afraid of the ones you watch," he reasoned, hoping to make the creature feel more at ease. He knew several of the men in the village who had reported similar instances of a strange, large creature moving through the woods in the evening, settling down at some distance to watch them. A few men had run from it in terror, others had tried to get a better look at it, which resulted in it disappearing altogether into thin air. He was not sure if he quite believed that last part, however. "We only fight when we are threatened, or to defend those who can not defend themselves."_

Not all men are this way.

_He nodded in response. So it was more intelligent than it seemed. "This is true. However, you should not fear all men."_

I do not fear you. You smell fine.

_He could not help but smile. He supposed it was a decent compliment. "I am glad to hear it."_

I am supposed to find a fighter, you know.

_"Yes? And why is that?"_

A fight is coming.

_"Is this so?"_

A dark thing, it smells bad. I have been told to find a fighter to give a special gift to, so that he may help us in our fight.

_The man frowned. What was this creature that it spoke of oncoming battles? "There are many great and powerful warriors throughout the country. I am certain you will find someone who can help you in your battle."_

I hope so.

_It was not until nearly a week later that the man saw the creature again. He'd heard stories of it, throughout that time, from other people in the village. Rumours that it had been seen all over the country, with many saying it had disappeared when confronted, vanishing as if it had never existed to begin with. He was not so sure that he believed those claims. He kept the conversation he'd had with it to himself. He didn't want to cause anyone alarm. And beyond that, no one else had mentioned the creature ever speaking to them. He didn't want to start more rumours. There were enough already as it was._

_When finally the creature came back, it was in the middle of the day, at a most inconvenient time for the man as he was in the process of training several young men in his own style of fighting. The students had stared in terror at first, and when a few finally gathered the nerve, they ran. The man tried to keep everyone calm, but it was difficult to do. The boys had heard too many stories in the village about this creature being a soul-eating demon, or a wandering spirit that would bring any who looked upon it misfortune. In the end, the man was left alone, sighing as he watched the last of his students make their hasty retreat._

I decided.

_"What have you decided, my friend?"_

My warrior. It will be you.

_The man balked at that. "I am afraid you may want to reconsider your options."_

No. It must be you.

_"Why is that?"_

_The creature blinked its large eyes slowly, staring at the man as if he were an idiot. _You don't smell so bad.

_The man drew his brows together in confusion, and gave a short laugh. "Well...I suppose that's as good a reason as any..."  
_

* * *

"Are you guys okay?" Sakura asked, taking a gentle hold on Ryu's sleeve.

"We're fine," he responded with a nod, pushing himself up into a seated position. His head was pounding, his brain felt like it'd just jumped into overdrive, but other than that, he felt all right.

"Hoping so, anyway," Charlie added dryly as he sat up, massaging his temples. He didn't think they made a pill big enough to get rid of this headache.

"Wow, good..." Sakura breathed. "When you guys all fell down like that, we were so worried!"

"What happened?" Maya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's...hard to tell," Chun-Li responded. "I don't know about the rest of you, but it was like I could feel all of my former life's memories rushing into my brain." The others nodded out their agreement, still trying to shake off the headache.

"That's...unusual," Guile said, unsure of what else to say.

"What were your old lives like?" Sakura asked with a smile. This was too interesting an opportunity to pass up. "How old were you guys?"

"Old enough to fight in the Colosseum in Rome, apparently," Vega put in, drawing his brows together. He wiped his hands on his shirt. It felt like there was still dust and sweat there.

"To witness the Roman invasion of Britain," Charlie added with a nod, still feeling relieved about getting to the healer in time. But, no, that had been his past. The little boy was long since dead.

"That's pretty damn old," Guile whispered, eyes wide.

"What else do you remember?" Sakura pressed.

"Just meeting the dragons for the first time," Ryu said. "Well...for me, at least."

"No, it's the same for me, too," Chun-Li added. The others nodded in agreement.

"So, we have what we came for?" Maya asked, putting a hand on her hip. "Got all your superpowers this time?"

The sound of metal sliding against metal caught their ears, and everyone turned to it. Vega had withdrawn the blade from the scabbard at the statue's side, inspecting the flawless falcata. His eyes passed over the armour, as well-leathery, worn, but light enough to not be a burden. His only covered the torso, tied at the sides, leaving open many vulnerabilities. A ragged tunic rested beneath it, some boots made from animal skin tied tight to the legs by leathery strips. He removed the entire belt and scabbard, fixing it around his own waist. "These might be useful, too," he said, sliding the blade back into its sheath. The others nodded in agreement, removing their own weapons. Ryu pulled the katana from his statue's side, tying the cloth belt around himself. Charlie pulled the scabbard off of his, and removed the sword, revealing an impressive claymore. He slung it over his back. There were arrows, and a bow, too, so he decided to take them as well. The one he'd had before was as good as gone, now, and he'd gotten pretty good with it. Chun-Li grimaced a bit at her own weapon. She was never really big on using one. Even standard issue firearms bugged her. She preferred to use her bare hands to taken down any opposition, but knew that in this situation, such an action was not necessarily always going to be so wise. It didn't help, however, that while the others had handy swords which hung perfectly well on their backs or at their sides, she had a kwan dao-a polearm that had a long reach. She still removed it dutifully, however, and tied it to her. It hung diagonally at her back, the blade pointed to the ground to minimize the risk of accidental injury. All of the weapons were still very sharp and shiny, looking to be in perfect condition in spite of their age.

"Wow," Sakura said, grinning at the sight of the four of them. "You look like knights, or something."

"I think I'm actually the only one who could've been a knight," Charlie said with a haughty, playful smirk.

"Then what are the rest of you?" she asked, sort of as a joke.

"Possibly a samurai," Ryu responded with a shrug. His armour had been similar, but not quite the same-his old self predated the existence of samurai.

"Bird in a gilded cage," Chun-Li muttered, crossing her arms.

"And you?" Sakura asked Vega.

"Just some Iberian savage," he replied with a shake of his head.

"Perhaps the four of you are properly armed, now," Rose said quietly, looking them over carefully. They did not seem any more confident in themselves, and it worried her slightly. But, she supposed, perhaps they would regain their confidence as they began to realise just how much their power had been augmented by the reclamation of these forgotten pieces. She could already feel it, and she did not doubt that Bison could either. Their auras were practically pulsing, and she pitied whatever creature now stood between them and their ultimate goal.


	29. The Enemy

"Put your feet father apart." She did. "Arms straighter." Again she complied. He nodded, and said, "So...try to hit me."

"What?" Sakura squeaked, shaking her head. "I couldn't really hit somebody with this thing."

"You haven't even _tried_," Vega said with a sigh.

"Come on, Sakura, don't turn down an offer to hit him," Guile jeered, and Vega rolled his eyes.

"You can do it, Sakura, just try," Ryu nodded. With that reassurance, she took a step forward, brought the sword back like a baseball bat, and swung hard. She squeezed her eyes shut when she heard metal collide with metal, and Vega shook his head.

"Smoother," he said, demonstrating. Holding his sword in one hand, he swept the blade slowly, very slowly towards her, stopping it half a foot from her shoulder. "How would you parry this?" He brought his arm back and again, moving slowly, thrust the blade forward at her, so that it was headed straight for her. She didn't know what to do, and stepped backwards instead.

"I don't think I can do this," she said with a shrug. "It feels weird. I'd just rather fight with my hands."

"Don't be intimidated," Ryu said.

"Yeah, go for it," Chun-Li added. "Nick that pretty face and see if he cries."

"My dear_, _only your beauty could move me to tears," Vega responded with a mock bow, spreading his arms. "Would you like to try your hand, if you are such an expert?"

Chun-Li frowned, but stood up. She couldn't back down now. She kicked up the polearm, catching it in her hands. It was so...unwieldy. Why couldn't she have a little sword?

"I don't know if this is such a good idea," Charlie said with a shake of his head.

"Afraid I'll win?" Vega asked.

"Afraid you'll skin somebody alive," Guile corrected. "Come on, guys, just chill out for now."

"No," Chun-Li said, now determined to show Vega up.

_Be careful... _Water warned.

"It'll be fine," Chun-Li responded. "Let's go." She saw Vega smirk and nod, raise his blade at her, indicating his readiness. She struck, spinning forward and sweeping the kwan-dao underhand, the blade sailing in a perfect arc towards the Spaniard. The blades met, and he parried. And then, the fight really started.

With a deep breath, she ran at him quick, jabbing forward. He ducked the blade, sliding beneath it and kicking out at her leg. She fell, but turned it into a back handspring, careful to keep the polearm from inhibiting her. As she planted her feet firmly in the ground, he struck again, and she countered the blow by holding the shaft of the kwan-dao perpendicular to his blade. He narrowed his eyes at her, pressed harder, and said, "Not feeling so confident without a window to shove me through?" With a frustrated cry, she shoved back, then smashed the blunt, bladeless end of the pole into his stomach. He gasped for breath, and arched backwards, narrowly avoiding her blade as it swept over him by mere inches. He completed the backwards lean, feeling warm dirt under his hands as he pushed off the ground and then landed once more on his feet. He parried another blow from her, noticing with mild interest the sparkling ribbons of water that had begun to orbit their way around the woman's arms. They traded several blows again and again, none making their mark.

"Can't you hit me?" Chun-Li mocked with a smirk as she ducked beneath his blade and planted an elbow firmly in his side. Sparks jumped from his fingertips as he growled in frustration, bringing his sword up towards her own torso. She ducked under, and met his knee on the way down, her jaw snapping shut with a clack as her teeth crashed into each other. She fell to her back, his blade inches from her face, his limbs becoming wrapped in flames.

"You lose, little rabbit."

"Hey..." Charlie warned.

She narrowed her eyes, and with a quick movement, brought up her kwan-dao, keeping it between herself and his blade. She pushed against it as she jumped back to her feet, and without realising it was even happening, her arms became completely aqueous. This frustrating bastard wasn't going to get the better of her, that much was certain. He cracked a cocky grin as she got back up, and she struck again. He ducked, backed off, popped forward again. Thrust and parry were the components of this game as both players matched each other blow for blow. Slowly but surely, Chun-Li became completely aqueous, a surreal but beautiful sight, like a detailed sculpture made completely out of water. Vega, in turn, was once again wreathed in flames, though his features were more difficult to distinguish than hers.

"Guys!" Ryu shouted this time, trying to get them to stop fighting.

"This can't be good," Charlie muttered with a shake of his head.

"Remember yourselves, you fools," Fire snapped, but neither party was listening. Earth lowed quietly, dipping his head down as he watched the two fight.

Chun-Li whipped out an arm, and an arc of water raced in front of her, quickly solidifying into ice and effectively blocking one of Vega's blows. As he pulled away, the water melted, and with the flick of a wrist, she shot it at him. There was a spike in temperature, and the water hissed away into steam before even coming into contact with him. The two moved into position for final, devestating attacks on the other, drawing back their weapons, and then...

They both found themselves unable to move. Vega groaned and shouted in Spanish at Bison, jerking against the telekinetic bonds on his body. Bison responded with a roll of his eyes, but whatever he said caused Vega to sigh, and the flames began to diminish. Chun-Li gritted her teeth, but similarly returned to a more normal state. "Now, are we going to behave like _adults_?" Bison snapped.

"I was _winning_," Vega sighed. "Why do you always do this to me?"

"You think I enjoy babysitting you?"

"_Babysitting_?" Vega echoed angrily, turning around to face the general. The two traded heated words in Spanish, much to the amusement of Guile, who tried to translate as best as he could. But he wasn't exactly fluent.

"I think it was a draw, you guys," Charlie offered in hopes of calming them down. But, he supposed, they weren't arguing about the fight. Chun-Li sighed, and dropped her weapon, going to sit with Guile. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Bison and Vega squabble.

"I think he said something about Bison's cat. Does Bison have a cat?" Guile asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why would any of us know that?" Chun-Li replied, shaking her head.

With an aggravated sigh, Vega fell to the ground dramatically, and crossed his legs. Sakura leaned forward and whispered, "What did you say about his cat?" Vega raised an eyebrow, completely confused. He didn't respond to her otherwise, and returned his eyes to the sky above. The clouds were breaking. And...why did that seem so unusual?

"The stars are up." Sakura's quiet remark brought everyone's attention to the sky. She was right, and at first, this did not seem like a remarkable thing. And then they all thought on just how long it had been since it had gotten cold, and cloudy. Chun-Li smiled.

"That must be a good sign, right?" the Chinese woman asked.

"Or some other horrible calamity is going to strike," Vega countered with a shrug as he glanced down at his phone. He frowned. No signal out here, wherever they were. It still felt like a wise decision to take it with him out of the car before Akuma attacked. The music player, though, was more of a sentimental choice. With the way the world was going, who knew how much would be destroyed before this was over? If he had this, at least, he knew, there was some worthwhile art preserved. But, he couldn't be certain what would happen to himself and the others. It could be unwise, he decided, to hold onto it. He glanced over at Sakura, who was tracing patterns in the sand, clearly bored. He tossed it to her, and she caught it, startled. "You hold on to that," he said.

"Thanks," she said, happy for some kind of distraction. There were two simple games on it, but it was better than nothing.

The group was now camped outside of the cave in what may have been their final stop for rest before the end of this fight. They were ready for the enemy now. Or, they hoped so, at least. Having taken back the full power they'd had in their previous lives, it was suggested that they were prepared. Things were a little tense, still. None of them had any idea how the next day would pan out, and they were waiting patiently for an exposition on the identity of their opponent. It was a risky move, apparently-the machine claimed that if it were to give up this information, it would also be giving up a turn. The enemy would then be able to strike once against them, and they would be unable to receive aid from the android. They all agreed that it was a risk worth taking.

Waiting, they found, was pretty difficult. The android had gone with Maya and Rose in search of fuel for a fire. Guile had made the joke that they could all simply sit around Vega and let him burn all night, but the Spaniard hadn't found it very amusing. In the time spent waiting, Ryu had told Sakura everything he could remember about his past self-not much at all, so far. She made her rounds, asking the other three as well, curious to learn more about these old lives. Then somehow the subject of sword fighting had come up-most likely due to the weapons they'd all brought out of the cave with them. She practised very little with Vega before the fight with Chun-Li broke out. She didn't really like using a weapon, she discovered.

And now, finally, as things had settled down some, the trio returned from their search, dropping the bits of wood and other dried organic materials into the little pit they'd managed to dig. "Won't you do something _useful _with your little trick for once, and light a fire here?" Bison demanded of Vega, who replied through gritted teeth, "Why certainly, father." Bison rolled his eyes and sighed, but ultimately, the Spaniard complied and made his way over to the meager pile of kindling that had been scraped together. It lit quickly, and was highly convenient. The weather was still cold in spite of their location, and they would have a tough time staying comfortable without something to get warm by. As everyone found their own spot around the fire, the atmosphere became less tense. But everyone was still waiting for the machine to reveal what else it knew.

"Your enemy is my counterpart," it began. "As I have created so much, he has destroyed. And you have seen this." They all remembered the various catastrophes, as well as the things the machine had shown them concerning the creation of the universe. "And as such, he seeks an avatar with a similar disposition as himself. One concerned with power, destruction, fueled by hatred and anger." Almost everyone threw a glance towards Bison and Vega, wondering if the avatar of the opponent had been with them the whole time.

But then Ryu said, "Is it Akuma?" Perhaps he wasn't being necessarily manipulated by the enemy when he attacked, but _was _the enemy. He was stronger than usual, and that mist was with him, but so then had that been the case with other things the enemy had infected.

"No. He is but another tool," the android responded, shaking its head slowly. "The enemy can take hold of anyone, should it focus its strengths enough. He generally prefers to work in more subtle methods, however, so as to not expend unnecessary energy. But he wants to end this fight. He has taken many by force this time, and will use them against you."

"It has Ken, doesn't it?" Guile questioned, not liking where those statements were headed.

"Yes."

Ryu clenched his jaw in frustration. Why were they still sitting around here? They needed to keep moving until they got their friend back. But quickly, he realised the importance of rest, especially before a fight such as this one. "Who else?" Ryu asked instead. "Has he taken anybody else?"

The android nodded slowly. "It has taken several others you already know, and may have already faced in fights before."

Everyone racked their brains, dredging up whatever familiar names and faces they could. "Fei Long?" Chun-Li questioned. They'd become fairly good friends since the tournament. Not nearly so close as Ryu and Ken, but she still wondered who they would be facing. The android confirmed her suspicions with a nod.

"What about Sagat?" Ryu asked. He didn't want to imagine this man's own strength being augmented any further. He'd barely come away from their first fight as the victor...and even then, it'd been through dirty tactics. He frowned at the reminder.

"It does have Sagat, as well the remaining Shadaloo Commander, and a handful of the dolls."

"Cammy?" Vega asked quickly. The android nodded. Vega gritted his teeth. "Why are we sitting here? We need to go!"

"Awww that's so sweet." The new and only vaguely familiar voice caught all of their attention. They all turned to face the young girl, her hand planted on her hip as she smiled maliciously. "You want your little bumblebee back? I'm having a lot of fun pulling her wings off."

Vega sprang to his feet. "If you've hurt her-"

"Sit down, beautiful," the girl spat, whipping her arm out, and Vega's feet were swept out from beneath him by a whisp of black mist.

"Wait a minute..." Maya whispered, recognising the face instantly. The purple eyes were a dead give away. The cocky attitude was a great indicator as well.

_Her smell, _Earth moaned, standing up and taking a step back. _That bad, bad smell!_

"You're it?" Chun-Li asked in disbelief. "You're our enemy?"

"Wow, what's _that _look for?" the young girl asked. "Think I'm not good at this? I thought I was giving you guys a pretty hard time, personally." She whirled around, and suddenly, it wasn't Juri anymore, but an older Chinese man, blackened eyes, blood stained shirt. "Am I not trying hard enough, baby?" the man asked.

"That's not even remotely amusing," Guile snarled as he jumped to his feet at the sight of his former Interpol partner and Chun-Li's father.

"Oops, I'm sorry," the man said, and spun round once more, this time becoming a beautiful blond woman-beautiful before the bullet wound between the eyes. "How about this one? This one's okay to be amused by, right?"

A ball of fire slammed into the illusionist, but she threw her head back and laughed as the flames harmlessly dissipated. "Ohhh, chickie-poo, don't you miss your mommy?" Vega gripped his sword tightly and started towards her, when she said, "Watch your step!" And once again, with a quick movement, Vega was knocked to his feet. The woman spun around, and once again, they were all looking at Juri. "I can see why Bison likes you," she said, amused, putting out her arm towards him as he climbed back to his feet. "You're a wonderful little puppet." Thick black mist shot from Juri, to Vega, and he covered his head in attempt to block it out. The others moved to help, but it was too late. The blond stared for the briefest of seconds at his hands that were moving against his will, fire shooting from his fingers, before the mist reached the rest of his brain and took complete control.

There was a tense moment where everyone tried to figure out what exactly happened. The blond was standing still, fires on his hands continuing to burn as he stared at the ground. "Vega...?" Bison said. And then the blond screamed, drawing out his sword, and rushing at the nearest person, who happened to be Ryu. Without thinking, the Japanese man turned into his rough, rocky form, and held up an arm to block the blade. Charlie tried to grab him from behind, and Vega kicked hard at his stomach. He spun away from both of them, and swung the blade again at the next nearest person.

"Sakura!" Ryu shouted as he saw it happen. The girl was as good as dead, he'd thought, but when he heard metal collide with metal, he realised she had picked up his own sword and blocked the blow. Eyes wide, panting hard, she pushed against Vega with all her might.

"Don't let it do this to you!" she cried. He hissed back in Spanish, and things became a lot hotter. Juri watched the game play out all the while, amused with herself, until she saw Bison's eyes turn white as he put out a hand. Vega's arms snapped behind his back against his will, as if cuffed together, and he struggled. Sakura dropped her sword, arms aching, and she felt Ryu grab her and pull her away.

"That's not fair!" Juri shouted, pointing at Bison. The man didn't respond, pouring all of his concentration into keeping a telekinetic hold on Vega. The blond struggled and screamed like an ensnared animal, hot flames bursting into the air. Juri gritted her teeth in frustration, and then said, "Fine!" She waved her arm, and then, the mist shot from Vega. He fell to his knees, gasping and coughing, flames dying down.

But Juri wasn't finished yet. The mist found a new home in Charlie. Within a few seconds, he'd drawn his own sword, and attacked Chun-Li. She ducked his blade, flipping away from him and holding up her hands. "Charlie, get a hold of yourself!" she cried. The wind blew in their faces, sand stinging their eyes. He stabbed the blade forward, and Chun-Li cried out as it sank into her shoulder. She was lucky it hadn't found its mark elsewhere, she supposed. But it hurt nonetheless. He drew the blade back, wind whipping madly. Chun-Li grabbed up her kwan dao, willing to defend herself but not to harm her friend. She braced herself for another blow and the sword came down again. Her shoulder ached horribly, the wind made it difficult to keep her eyes open. Her grip on the pole was lost for a brief second, but it was all he needed. His blade slipped forward, slicing through cloth and biting into her side. She hissed at the sudden pain, grateful for the thick layer of clothing, but still worried for the wound. Before Charlie could strike again, he was grabbed from behind by Guile.

"Come on, Charlie! Don't do this!" Guile shouted over the wind. He struggled against Guile, trying to bring his sword up, but finding it nearly impossible to move. Bison once again focused his energies on stilling the movements of the infected, but knew he wouldn't be able to keep at this forever.

"You're not any fun," Juri growled angrily, and drew her hand back. The mist shot from Charlie, and he slumped against Guile's grip, gasping for air. The wind stopped blowing, and Juri looked up. "Well. My secret was going to be let out, one way or the other. So...I guess I can use _this _move to buy myself some more time."

"You aren't going anywhere," Ryu snapped, gripping his blade tightly and taking a step towards her. If this was who they had to fight, then so be it.

"You're right," Juri responded, raising an eyebrow. "_You _are."

The mist was back, but this time, it wrapped itself around them completely, the four of them struggling to do whatever they could to get rid of it. But it was too late. Within seconds, they'd disappeared completely, and Juri drew the mist back to her. She grinned.

"Where are they?" Maya snapped.

"What the hell did you do?" Guile cried.

Juri giggled. "Want to find out?" She stepped forward, the mist swirling around her fingers.

"The dragon has to take us out of here, now," Bison demanded, looking for the creature.

"I don't think so!" Juri cried, the mist rushing towards them.

"Earth, take us home!" Sakura cried. And then they were gone, leaving Juri alone in the desert, frustrated.

But no, not completely alone. She saw the android, and smirked haughtily. "You don't think you really stand a chance with them, do you?" she asked, shaking her head.

"You underestimate them."

"Or maybe you think too highly of them," she responded.

"We will see, soon enough."

* * *

_"There is so much in this world," he whispered in awe as he walked the streets of this enormous city. The people were dressed beautifully, amazing statues hewn frown marble adorning elabourate temples, huge buildings on hill tops glimpsed from a distance. There were people everywhere, and it was the busiest place he'd ever been in his life. But in spite of all of the people in the streets, they all made sure to step out of his way, stopping to bow reverently to him and his companion._

This is not my favourite of places, _the dragon whispered back timidly. He could feel that much-the creature was nervous, the large buildings intimidated it. He didn't like that the trees were traded for these stone walls._

_"There are still many wild places left, Earth," the man reassured the dragon, patting its side as they walked. It was enough of a comfort, it seemed._

_Hiruko was a spectacle to these people. He realised it without having to catch the stares being thrown his way. He knew he stood out. But he wasn't troubled by it. He was here for something important, and would not be deterred by the attention. After the intense fight in his homeland against this dragon's enemy, he was finally prepared to meet the other three like himself, and with them, go forth for the last battle in this war. These people had seen little of it, he'd been told. The occasional beast had made its way by the vast Roman army into the empire's capital. But other towns had been less fortunate than that._

Here, we're nearly there, _Earth announced. Hiruko looked up ahead, and there it was-the heart of the world, as most believed at the time. The Roman Forum in all its grandeur, pillars reaching into the sky, surprisingly empty of people, making the enormous buildings even more intimidating. There were a handful of soldiers around the perimeter of the forum, though crowds had gathered in an attempt to view the historic meeting that was about to take place. Within the city centre, there was only one dragon yet present, and he seemed to belong here, with glimmering red scales, and fierce, shrewd eyes. At his feet stood three other men-two were Roman soldiers, while another was dressed a bit more decoratively. He wore a circlet in his dark, curly hair, and Hiruko surmised that it was the Emperor of Rome himself._

_"There, now, we were beginning to wonder when any of you would remember to show," the dragon stated, shifting its weight as it spotted its sibling._

It is a big city.

_The crowd around the forum parted for Earth and Hiruko, some still shouting out to them, asking questions in a language Hiruko couldn't understand. He ignored them, keeping his eyes forward. The Emperor greeted him, and Hiruko tried his best to imitate what the man said, but ended up resorting to a curt bow. It was not long before the next dragon showed up. She was similar in build to the red one, though more slender, and with golden feathers. At her side walked a man dressed in dark blues, leathery boots, unlike the Romans' sandles. His blond hair reached his shoulders in waves, and was left to flow freely, and there was a light amount of facial hair on his jaw. "Greetings," the man said with a nod towards Hiruko._

_"Hello," Hiruko responded with a bow. "I am quite impressed that you know my language."_

_But the man smiled, and shook his head. "I don't. But she does." He nodded up to the dragon at his side. "She makes it possible for us to understand each other, translating what we say as we say it, and then we hear those words instead of those which are actually being spoken."_

_Hiruko looked to the golden dragon, and smiled to her. "That is a great talent."_

_"We all have our talents, my friend," she responded._

_And he knew that was true. His journey had been the shortest due to Earth's special talent-the ability to instantly travel to any place he could picture in his mind. He felt a little bad for the others. They'd had to come a very long way._

_"My name is Elwyn," the blond man said. "And I am the servant of Air."_

_"I am Hiruko, Earth's companion," the dark haired man responded._

_A sudden noise from behind them caught their attention, and all eyes went to it, ready for an altercation. Two Roman soldiers were practically dragging a younger blond man through the crowd, and he snapped, "Let go, I'll gnaw your arms off if you don't, you'd better stop it! I'll do it! Just watch!" The soldiers couldn't understand him, but thanks to Air, the two foreign men could._

_"Vile little parasite," one of the soldiers growled, and they shoved him towards the dragons._

_"We should've culled him while we had the chance," the other muttered._

_"Cull?" the boy echoed, jumping to his feet, and running at the soldier. He didn't stop to question why he could suddenly understand these men, but it wasn't one of his priorities at the moment as he leaped onto the soldier's back and pounded his fists against the man's head. "Parasite?"_

_"Stop him, now!" the Emperor ordered. The two soldiers at his side ran towards the fight, grabbing the boy, dragging him away back towards the dragons._

_"Won't you behave yourself?" Fire asked, slightly exasperated._

_"When they do," the boy snapped back, shaking his head. He turned his eyes to the others, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "More?" Blue eyes wandered over the dragons and the foreign men._

_"This is Hiruko, from the far East, and Elwyn from the North," Fire explained._

_"Pleased to meet you," Elwyn said, hesitating only for a second. The young man looked quite out of sorts, and the display from earlier made him unsure about where this boy's loyalties were. Hiruko nodded to him in greeting, and the boy smiled, almost a complete turn around from his attitude with the guards._

_"Hello! My name is Tiresio, I come from Iberia __and I am a warrior there, until I stole their horses and they put me in that awful place," the boy babbled, doing plenty of talking for all of them. "Have you been to that place? It's supposed to be famous, but, well, I'd never heard of it before I had to fight in there."_

_"Can't say that I have," Elwyn replied, unsure, exactly what he was referring to._

_"Well, good, because they stick you with spears and tell you to fight, and when you _do _fight, and you win, they just make you fight even _more _without a single rest!" the boy responded, throwing his arms into the air._

_"You must have done well enough," Hiruko responded._

_"How many more are there?" Elwyn asked._

_"Just one." The new voice caught all of their attentions, and all three men turned their eyes to an elegant and beautiful young woman, serpentine dragon resting on her shoulders. She definitely looked important, with elabourately braided hair, silken clothes laced with gold, and a few of her own guards traveled with her. The men would be lying to themselves if they said they weren't surprised by this latest addition to the group. The final warrior was a woman, and an astounding one at that. She approached them with a confident gait, bowing in greeting. "My name is Lo Shen. I bring you greetings from China." She uttered a cry of surprise when she felt a pair of hands on her face, poking her eyelids, and she responded with a hard smack to the young man's face. Fire groaned slightly, agitated with the uncouth mannerisms of the warrior he'd chosen._

_The boy stepped back and rubbed his face. "I wasn't going to _eat _them!" he cried, shaking his head._

_"How...how _dare_ you take it upon yourself to touch a woman without her permission!" she cried back, infuriated._

_"I was curious."_

_She stared back, dumbfounded. The boy was completely serious, and she had no idea how to respond to that. "Apologise!" she demanded. He had to learn some sort of respect. "Or is this the way all Westerners behave?"_

_"No, my lady," Elwyn replied with a shake of his head. He nudged the younger man in the shoulder, who pressed his lips together._

_"Sorry," he muttered._

_"You must know better than to touch someone without asking," Lo Shen reprimanded, shaking a finger at him._

_"Why?" he asked._

_She sputtered, glancing from Tiresio to Elwyn, to Hiruko, and then finally to the red dragon. "You've invested the future of our world in an idiot!"_

_"An honest and spirited one, at least," the dragon responded with the wave of a claw. Maybe the boy wasn't the most tactful of individuals, but he had a strong will. All four of them did, and that's what made them perfect candidates for the work they had to do now.  
_

* * *

They hit the ground hard, and with a degree of speed, leaving them rolling through the snow. Ryu pushed himself up, gasping for breath, feeling himself for injuries or any other nasty surprises. The second that mist had come into contact with his body, his entire being felt like it was on fire. He remembered thinking that, certainly, he would suffocate in it. And then, just as it got unbearable, the mist was gone, and they weren't in the desert anymore. This place was freezing, with harsh winds driving snow into their faces. He looked around, squinting against the ice and wind. He spotted Charlie, who was sitting up, shaking snow out of his hair. "Charlie!" Ryu called over the winds. The man looked up, squinted, and then waved, getting to his feet. The two were freezing, crossing their arms over their chests for whatever warmth they could. They were dressed for the cold, but not these sorts of temperatures and conditions.

"Where are we?" Charlie shouted.

"No idea!" Ryu responded, looking around. There were some mountains, the ground was definitely rugged. But they were up to their knees in snow, and it was hard to discern the landscape. Then, a realisation hit him, and he asked, "Where are Chun-Li and Vega?"

Charlie whipped around, searching for the two missing individuals. He felt immense guilt over attacking his friend, even if he wasn't able to control himself at the time. It felt like that just wasn't a good enough excuse, though he knew how irrational that seemed. "No idea!" Nervousness began to creep into both their minds as they wandered in an ever-enlarging circle, shouting out the names of the missing individuals. No one called back, which made that anxiety even worse.

"What happened to them?" Ryu cried in frustration. It seemed like there was always something getting in the way of their ultimate goal, and this was no less frustrating than any earlier obstacle.

"That mist must've separated us!" Charlie responded, shaking his head. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, scanning the horizon. There was no sign of anyone at all "What do we do now?"

Ryu drew his brows together and whispered, "I wish I knew."

"Can you contact Earth?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah," Ryu nodded. He hoped that was still the case, anyhow. With how unsure he was of the rules of the game, he could never be too certain. But he focused his attentions anyway, sending visual cues to the dragon. He prayed that it would receive them, and know where they were. "He'll come for us, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah," Charlie agreed with a nod. It was important to keep thinking positive. "Let's get out of this wind and snow, if we can." Ryu nodded in response, trudging through the knee-high snow alongside Charlie. They searched the mountainous area for somewhere to stay for however long it would take the dragon to find them. There were large rocks, but little in the way of caves, which would have been ideal. But then finally, the two found something adequate, happy to be away from the harsh winds.

"It's awful out there," Ryu said with a shake of his head.

Charlie nodded in agreement. "Those jerks better not be enjoying some tropical paradise," the blond said. He knew it wasn't a very good joke, but he tried anyway.

Ryu didn't laugh. He was too worried to be concerned with jokes. Chun-Li and Vega could be anywhere at this time. How could they find them? The enemy said she'd done this with the intention of buying more time. It was definitely working for her. _Come on, Earth. Don't let us down, _he thought.

It was up to the dragons to save them, now.

* * *

Coughing, he drew in ragged breaths as he rolled onto his side and climbed to his feet. Freezing winds stung his face, and he pulled the hood of his jacket up over his head. Gloves would've been nice, and he reprimanded himself mentally for not thinking of buying some. He looked around, forced to squint due to the snow and wind. Was he alone out here? Where had the rest of them gone? A quiet groan reached his ears, something moving, and he looked down, spotting Chun-Li not more than a few feet away. Her blood was leaking out into the otherwise perfectly white snow. He rolled his eyes. Why did _he _have to get stuck with the injured one? "Can you get up?" he called over the howling winds.

She shivered violently, trying to ignore the pain spreading over her side and through her shoulder. "Yeah," she responded, but failed to do so. He sighed and made his way to her, grabbing her uninjured arm and pulling her to her feet.

"Come on, _coneja_, don't make me drag you through this snow," he said.

"I'm fine, let go," she growled, shoving his hand away. So he did. Both took a second to look around, and Chun-Li said, "We've been separated again, haven't we?"

"So tired of this shit," Vega muttered, shaking his head and drawing a hand over his face, which was quickly going numb from the cold. "How the hell are we going to get away from here?"

"We have no idea where we are, no landmarks to go by, no signs of civilisation..." she listed off, wincing at a sudden, sharp pain from her shoulder. "We..." she trailed off, feeling a little light-headed. "I..um, shelter, we need shelter."

"We should keep moving," Vega responded, shaking his head. "We can't afford to stop."

"We don't know where to move to," she argued. "If Ryu can get to Earth then...then maybe they can..." She wobbled on her feet, but caught herself, and pressed a hand to her head. She closed her eyes for a second.

"Great," Vega sighed. "You're losing too much blood to keep going, aren't you?"

Irritated, she snapped, "Sorry to bother you with my wounds!"

"Don't get irritated at me," he snapped back. "We can't stop here. If we stop, we might not start moving again!"

She squeezed her eyes shut. "Look," she said through gritted teeth, focusing on standing up. She didn't want to show any weaknesses in front of him, but the blood loss was making it difficult. She pressed on hand against her shoulder in an attempt to stem the flow. "The dragons say they can tell where we are, because of the power they gave us. Earth will find Ryu, and then they'll be able to find us, too."

"How can we be sure?" Vega asked with a shake of his head. "We can't rely on them to find us."

"I can," she responded. "They're my friends. They'll come for me...for both of us."

He narrowed his eyes, staring at the bloodied snow. They'd come for her. That much was true. "Fine, shelter," he snapped, now turning his eyes to their surroundings. Cutting the wind out would be pretty helpful. They were in a mountainous region, which would hopefully yield some kind of cave or alcove among the rocks. They both finally agreed on a direction, and started walking. It took some time-though they couldn't tell how much-but they finally found a decent place to rest. It wasn't a very deep cave, nor very warm, but getting out of the wind was a blessing in itself. Vega sat against the wall, drawing his knees to his chest and watching as Chun-Li did her best to dress her wounds with whatever spare cloth she could afford. She hissed at the sight of her shoulder. She'd never been stabbed like that before. Cut, but not stabbed.

"I hate the cold," she snapped, staring out of the mouth of the cave and watching the snow fall.

"Double that," Vega added, rubbing his eyes. He could barely feel his fingers, and even though he could will them to be covered in fire, he wouldn't feel any warmth from the flames. There was always that tingling sensation, but nothing in the way of heat. For himself, at least. So he deemed it senseless to expend the energy. He slid down, laying on his side now and watching the mouth of the cave, willing one of the dragons, or even Bison or Rose, to show up and bring good news. But that wasn't happening, not yet. He closed his eyes, hoping this would be over with soon.

Chun-Li glanced over at him, and sighed. This was frustrating. Being captured was one thing. She had control over getting out of that situation. There were clear-cut ways to escape. But this was completely different. They could wander out into the snow for miles and never come back. But she wouldn't let herself get too upset over it yet. Panic never did anyone any good. So she took a cue from the Spaniard, and laid down, curling up in a ball for warmth. Her side and shoulder ached, but the cold was much more of a problem. Letting her eyes slide shut, she tried her hardest to get some sleep.


	30. Honourable Duty

_"_This isn't good, this isn't good," Sakura murmured under her breath as she took in her heavily populated surroundings. The dragon had brought all of them-Bison, Rose, Viper, Guile, and his three siblings-into the middle of some city. People stopped and stared at the creatures, some ran away frantically, terrified. Earth raised his head, eyes flying wide at all of it.

_"_You great fool!" Fire snapped. "Look where you've taken us!"

_There are so many people here! _the large dragon gasped, clearly intimidated.

"We should relocate, quickly," Bison urged, doing his best to keep his head down while still observing their surroundings for potential threats. But who was he kidding? Four dragons had just shown up in the middle of a city. How were they _not _going to attract unwanted attention?

"We must find the others," Air said. "They are very far from here."

_I don't think this location was a very good idea, _Water said, shrinking quickly and scurrying up Sakura's leg. In the absence of her partner, she felt that the young girl was most receptive to her company. Sakura didn't protest as the dragon clung to the inside of the hood of her jacket. A small, narrow head rested on her shoulder, watching everything warily.

_"_We have some company," Viper said, almost as if on cue. She nodded at a handful of police who'd taken notice of the source of all of the panic.

_There's that bad gun smell..._Earth said warily, though no one present could hear him but his siblings. He missed Ryu terribly, knew that the young man would know exactly what to do. But here, it was so overwhelming, and hadn't this been peaceful green plains beside a lake the last time he'd been here? How had it turned to these massive stone and glass towers, these ugly paved roads? Had he really been asleep for so long?

"Come here," Guile said quickly, grabbing Sakura by the arm as the police approached. He assumed responsibility for her in the absence of Ryu, and didn't want her getting wrapped up in whatever was about to happen.

_"_But what about-" she began protesting as he urged her into a jog, as if they were both getting as far from these bizarre monsters as possible.

_"_Rose can handle this," he replied, shaking his head. "Don't know what's going to happen, but maybe it would be for the better if you got left behind anyway. Things are getting more dangerous than ever now, and Ryu would be pretty upset with me if I let you get into trouble, or worse."

_"_I can't give up now," Sakura said. "We have to find Ryu and the others."

_"_We're going to have to ask you to step away from the...animals," one of the cops said, waving his hand for emphasis.

"Don't harm them," Rose said quickly, seeing the weapons raised cautiously.

_"_I don't think you're the best candidate to explain all this, sweetheart," Maya muttered, putting a hand to her head. She took a step forward, whipping out her badge, and said, "These are my responsibility. Classified stuff, gentlemen, so kindly lower the weapons."

_"_Agent Maya Sunee?" one of the men questioned.

Bison recognised that tone of inquiry, and began to tell the woman it would be most beneficial to her to respond with a 'no', but it was too late. The woman nodded, and the men raised their weapons immediately.

_"_You're under arrest for grand theft in the first degree."

"The hell are you talking about?" Maya protested as one of them recited her Miranda rights. She remembered pretty quickly about taking off with the android-'just for a little while', she told herself. That's how she figured it would work, but things had taken a decidedly bizarre turn, obviously. She groaned and covered her face. She'd been with the CIA for years, a top notch operative, and now over one little infraction, they were accusing her of theft? What did they think she was doing, selling the damned thing off to the highest bidder? "Hey!" she snapped as she was taken by the wrists and cuffed.

_"_Get animal control out here on those things, or something," the one cuffing Maya ordered. The other spoke quickly into his radio, trying and failing to aptly describe the dragons.

"Look, you guys get out of here, quick," Maya said, mildly irritated. She wasn't going to be arrested, she knew that much. They had no proof that she'd stolen the android. Maybe it went haywire on her and left. How was she supposed to detain something like that, anyway? "I'll get this all sorted out. You guys have to find those four and get to fixing this crap."

_Where? Where do we go now?_Earth wondered, upset. It was becoming more and more difficult to find a safe place, and he was at a loss. The added stress of the men with guns taking one of their party away wasn't helping matters.

"Anywhere!" Fire snapped. "And quickly, before-"

There were sirens, and Fire took off into the sky. "Head south," Air added gently, knowing how easily Earth became intimidated. "That's where they are."

_But...but where south? _Earth asked frantically as the noises drew louder. He saw Maya forced into the back of the vehicle. He saw Sakura, the one he knew best here, huddled with Guile by the nearest building, watching and waiting for him to make a decision. He heard Bison, the bad man who he had to bring along for his great powers, urging them to move. And there was Rose, the nice woman asking kindly of Earth to take them somewhere less populated. But that was what he'd tried to do already, and they'd ended up here, frightening so many people. And all of these people were the ones he was supposed to protect. Had it been so long since he and his siblings roamed the planet that humans didn't even recognise them anymore?

"Now!" Bison all but screamed upon spotting a few very intimidating vehicles barrelling towards them.

Earth groaned, and tried to think of a safe place and-

Something stung. Just on his shoulder. He huffed, and glanced over, noticing some _thing _sticking out of him. He swiped at it with one claw, but it was difficult to get out. Another one stung him, and Bison growled angrily. His eyes became white, and he approached the men by their trucks. Earth found now that it was difficult to focus, and he swayed on his feet. The men were shooting at Fire and Air, but they were up above, out of range. Fire growled out, spotting his fallen sibling.

"We will have to go on without him," Air said.

"Those foul little creatures will butcher him!" the red dragon snapped back.

"Rose and Bison will both keep him safe. But we must find the others, before it is too late for them," she argued, shaking her head.

Fire glanced down at Earth. Rose stood by him still, shaking him, but knowing very well that she could not wake him yet. Bison was an intimidating sight as he reached the first shooter, causing the men to give up on the 'animals' and focus on this strange man who they seemed to be unable to hit. He hoped the two humans would be enough of a defence, and followed Air southward.

* * *

_He met the man's blade, and parried, taking the few seconds he had to stab forward. His opponent thrust out an arm, intercepting the blade, and shoved it off. Any other man would have been insane to try such a trick, and would likely go the rest of his life without a hand, but this man was unique in that regard. The metal of the claymore rang loudly as it impacted solid stone, and Elwyn couldn't help but smirk. That was certainly a nifty ability to have._

_"Strong blow," Hiruko said. "I felt that one all the way to here." He indicated his shoulder, and rolled the joint in question._

_"Well, I think you were even stronger that time," Elwyn murmured, holding up his sword. There was a definite bend in the blade where the stone arm had met it. The thing was quite ruined now._

_"My apologies," Hiruko said with a bow at the waist. "I did not intend to do that..."_

_Elwyn shook his head. "Don't worry quite so much. It is replaceable, after all."_

_"I don't think I'll ever need a sword again," Hiruko said, flexing his rocky fingers as he returned to his regular self. The blond man watched with some amazement. He had his own gifts, becoming practically invisible and able to literally race with the wind, covering vast distances in mere minutes as a result. But the abilities which the others exhibited never ceased to amaze him. Lo Shen became anywhere between a watery mist to what looked practically like a sculpture carved in ice. It was quite beautiful to see, really. Tiresio would burst into some vaguely humanoid mess of flames-perhaps the most intimidating out of all of them. He felt his own was not particularly frightening, but was advantageous. To pass around your enemies quickly, and without them being even able to see you was indeed very handy. And Hiruko was practically invincible. What could move or harm a mountain, after all? The man was not weighed down in this form either, showing still his unique and fluid movements. He'd never seen men fight the way Hiruko did, and found it interesting to watch, at least._

_"Most men would be happy to be able to say such a thing," Elwyn said._

_"You don't find that cowardly?" Hiruko asked._

_Elwyn shook his head. "I do not quite see the glory of battle. It is a necessary evil that one must go through in order to protect those he cares about. Death should never be relished."_

_"It is not the death of another man that one finds their honour in," Hiruko replied, shaking his head. "But the fact that one has risked life and limb in order to defend those who can not defend themselves."_

_Elwyn considered his words. It was pleasant to hear that the foreigner was not some savage who took delight in murder. He never enjoyed fighting, but did it for the precise reason that Hiruko had just outlined-to protect those who could not protect themselves. It was the responsibility of the able to help keep the unable safe. Those who shunned that responsibility, he felt, were cowards, but those who delighted in the death of another man were perhaps worse than any coward. "Maybe you could consider it honourable," Elwyn conceded with a nod. "But I will continue to think of it as duty."_

_Hiruko smiled, one of the first Elwyn had seen since he met the often serious-faced and calm man. "An honourable duty." _

Charlie groaned. Cold? This was a level beyond cold that mankind couldn't possibly have witnessed before. He would give nearly anything to be warm again. He'd trade years and years of knowledge on aircraft and other things of a mechanical nature for a bic lighter if he could. Sleep hadn't come easily to him, and he'd been woken several times by the howling wind or the chill from sleeping on cold stone floors. He rolled onto his back, staring at the dark roof. "This bites," he said.

"Agreed," Ryu said from a few feet away, nodding. He'd been able to ignore the cold better than Charlie. He tried reverting to his stone form to see if it helped him keep any warmer, but then, why would it? He'd absorbed the cold and retained it even more, which had been quite frustrating. It took him a while to get as warm as he had been before, and he decided he'd never make that mistake again. The Japanese man pushed himself up into a seated position, inhaling deeply as he did. How long had they been here? What was the point of stopping if they couldn't really get any rest? And where was Earth? Ryu was worried that the dragon hadn't come for them yet, and now he had to consider the possibility that something had gone wrong. He looked over at Charlie, who was shaking aching joints. At 36 years old-a couple of years older than he should've been in this year due to his temporal displacement-he wasn't exactly elderly, but the cold was doing a number on him.

"So, no rescue party to greet us this morning, huh?" Charlie said as he looked around. Still nothing but miserable miles of snow and ice and rocks.

"I'm beginning to worry that something has gone wrong," Ryu said.

"We'll figure things out. I'm sure they're coming for us," Charlie said confidently with a nod. He knew, if anything, Guile wouldn't give up on them. Given the whole 'the world ends if you die' scenario, then he supposed all of them would be pretty adamant about finding them, anyway.

"Should we get to walking then?" Ryu said. Maybe it was senseless, but he couldn't help but feel like it was a waste of time to stay put. At least if they started moving, then they would be going _somewhere. _"Maybe Chun-Li and Vega are out there somewhere, too."

"Maybe they're somewhere else entirely," Charlie countered with a nonchalant shrug. "There's really no way to tell. But I guess walking would at least get our blood flowing." He hoped, anyway. They were lucky enough to have been dressed warmly, but it wasn't enough for this sort of cold. He figured they were either pretty far north, given the complete lack of any sign of civilisation, or very, very far south. He hoped it was the former-at least then, they could've been in some remote part of Canada, or even Greenland. But if they were stuck in Antarctica, even if they did walk across the whole continent, they'd meet nothing but frozen shores with no way to get away. He was trying to stay positive, though.

"Do you think something's happened to them? The dragons, I mean," Ryu asked quietly as he watched the still icy slopes ahead of them. It wasn't that he wasn't worried for Chun-Li..and Vega, for as much as he needed to be. But it didn't make sense to him that Earth hadn't shown up yet.

Charlie frowned. They did have to consider the possibility, since no one had come for them yet. "I can't say for sure. But even if something did, we have to keep going. We won't get anywhere but a little closer to hypothermia sitting in here like this."

Ryu nodded, suddenly appearing a little more determined. He forced himself out of his worrisome mindset, knowing that Charlie's words were true. They had to keep moving, or there would be nothing left for the dragons to find but frozen corpses.

* * *

_"Here. I have something to show you."_

_She raised an eyebrow as he pointed upward. Did he not realise from the last few tense interactions between them that she did not appreciate his company? Or perhaps, he simply saw right through her fake irritation. She continually tried to drive him away from her, but he was not making it easy. She didn't want him around her-he represented too much of everything she wanted but could not ever have. After being selected by Fire, he'd been freed from the only cage he'd ever known in his life. And once the war was over, he'd gone back to running freely around a now Romanized Iberia, doing whatever he wanted. And she had returned to China, exalted and praised. Each festival, every compliment, every offering made her feel more and more trapped, and she wanted to scream._

_She followed him, pretending to be annoyed. She had to do what she could to get him to think she no longer wanted to be anywhere near him. She didn't trust herself with him. It wasn't just his disposition that had gained her attention. The foreigner was very beautiful, under all of the sweat and dirt, and she realised she could not remain his friend. "Where are you taking me so late in the evening?" she snapped._

_"Shh. Secret." He pressed a finger to his lips as he glanced back at her, continuing the climb up the mountain. The path was not well worn, and a difficult climb._

_"I do not enjoy playing at such a childish game," she responded. Untrue. It made her anxious, excited. What was waiting for them at the end of the walk? Why couldn't he tell her? The thrill of sneaking into the woods with him was getting to her, and she didn't know if she could keep up the act._

_"Game? Not a game. You'll see." They continued their climb, and soon enough, they'd reached the windy mountaintop. The few plants shivered in the breeze, and he made his way to the highest point amid the rocks, waving her towards him. "Come here." She sighed irritably, but complied. He looked up at the sky for a moment, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "There are a lot of stars here. __I have something to put up there, too." She raised an eyebrow, waiting for an elabouration. But he didn't speak. He held out an arm, fingers pointed skyward, tracing lines in the air. His hands caught fire, but these flames, she noticed, weren't hot, nor were they red, orange, or yellow. They were green, and he whispered, "No, not there, look up." And so she did. She covered her mouth with her hand, eyes going wide at the sight of it. Shimmering bands of flames snaked through the night sky in shades of green. From such a distance, they didn't even look like fire, just smooth, beautiful ribbons of green, arcing overhead._

_"How..." she whispered, still staring, unable to take her eyes away from the magnificent phenomena._

_"When flying, it is a good feeling," he responded, referring to the dragon. "That is how it feels to fly. I thought you would like to know that feeling." He nodded up at the sky, and she exhaled quickly. He'd done this for her benefit?_

_"It's so beautiful," she whispered. He smiled, eyes still on the sky as he continued to weave the scintillating threads through the ether. They watched him work the flames for some time, tracing the lines through the sky. __She watched as the green lights still smoldered above, smiling longingly at them. Something that beautiful couldn't last long, she supposed. He lowered his hand. His eyes were blue again, and he asked, "You liked it?" She looked back at him, and he drew his brows together with concern. She looked ready to cry. "Did I do something wrong?"_

_And then, she, wrapped her arms around his neck, and shook her head. "No," she whispered, burying her face in his neck and gripping the cloth of his ragged tunic._

_"Oh. You seem sad."_

_She sighed. He fought like a beast but behaved like a child. Why did she allow herself to be so caught up in this boy? "Remember your time in the Colosseum. To be caged, and prodded, and ordered what to do, to not make decisions on your own?"_

_"Why would I want to remember that?" he asked, not following her yet._

_"That is my life, every day."_

_He processed that, finally understanding what she was getting at. He pressed his lips together, then said, "Even I had the capability of fighting against it."_

_"But I must do what's right. What is best for my people, my husband," she said, and he shook his head slowly._

_"You get this life once," he said, shaking the finger he'd held up at her. "Don't live it in a cage."_

_Finally, on the verge of tears again, she let her hands rest in his hair, and kissed him. He was startled at first, eyes flying wide and then sliding shut. She knew she should have stopped herself, distanced herself from him the first time she ever desired that same sort of freedom he lived in every day. But it was too late, now, she realised with only the mildest sense of regret, which was soon forgotten, if only for a little while._

She drew her breath softly. Her side ached where she'd been wounded. It was still dark, the wind was howling madly outside-not too far from where she slept now, and she was so cold. Where had he gone? They'd fallen asleep together up there, exhausted and she'd never realised sex could be that passionate but he did everything with such a fierce passion it shouldn't have surprised her. Had he left her alone, ditched her after using her or... No, he wasn't like that. Groggy eyes spotted the sleeping form of the blond laying on his side, and, she reached for him, confusing him for someone she once knew and loved a long, long time ago. Crawling, painfully slow, fire spreading over her ribs, she reached him, and came to rest as close to him as she could. She buried her face in his neck, pulled his arm over her waist. He sighed in his sleep, and she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck. She was in pain, and it was so cold, but this would do, for now. Satisfied with her bed, she closed her eyes, and fell back asleep.

It was a few hours before he woke. He was cold, save for the bit of warmth he'd managed by curling up as tightly as he could. The more he woke, the more he realised that wasn't what was keeping him warm. His fingers, practically frozen, brushed against something soft. His arm was draped over someone. It couldn't possibly be-

"Ugh," he groaned sleepily, pushing away from her sleeping form. While she had provided some warmth, he couldn't be so sure it was worth being in such close contact to her. Why had she crawled over to him to begin with? And when? He felt her hand on his wrist, grasping it, and she whispered sleepily, "Come back."

"I think you're forgetting yourself, _coneja._"

Her eyes shot open, and she withdrew quickly, realising immediately that it was Vega she had curled up against, grabbed hold of. She wanted to puke. She crossed her arms, holding on tightly for warmth. "I didn't mean to..." she started, completely embarrassed, and partially disgusted. But she looked up at him, even as tired and disheveled as he was, still beautiful, and remembered who he'd been. "I thought you were someone else."

"Don't make that mistake again, or I may make one of my own," he hissed. He didn't like being touched, most certainly not by her, of all people. True, she was beautiful, but he hated her for it. That was the only emotion he felt for her, and the only one he ever would.

She pressed her lips together, not really in the mood to fight back. And she _had _been the one in the wrong here, as surreal as that sounded. "Vega..." she started, unsure of how to phrase the question she wanted to ask. It felt strange to say his name without any anger attached to it. He didn't look back at her as he stood to his feet, but he didn't walk off either, so she took it as a cue to continue speaking. "What do you remember? About who we were before?"

He raised an eyebrow at the question. Why did she care? But he still thought of it, just for a second. "I was some ridiculous little barbarian. The other two were fairly similar to who they are now. And _you _were-"

_"Remove this-this _creature _quickly, before I change my mind about his fate!" the Chinese man snarled to his guards._

_He glanced around quickly at the pair of men advancing on him. He could see the timidity in their eyes. They knew what he was capable of. He looked back up to Lo Shen, and said, "You are going to let this happen?"_

_She wouldn't look back at him, but replied stoically, "You aren't welcome here anymore."_

_"Never are you to see my wife again," the man hissed. "For what you have done, I should have you killed. Be grateful that a god watches over you."_

He smirked. "This is the culmination of thousands of years worth of tension and hatred," he replied, amused. "Some things never change."

She frowned. He remembered something different, clearly. From what she could recall, the two hadn't hated each other at all. She remembered sneaking away with him, disappearing into the woods or the mountains, making love under the stars, knowing what it meant to really love someone. She realised, suddenly, she had no idea how it ended though. It seemed he'd remembered that before her. "No," she responded quietly with a shake of her head. "I think they do."


	31. Evasive Maneuvers

"So. What's the story?"

Maya growled low in her throat. Angry wasn't apt enough. Pissed. Beyond furious. There just simply wasn't an adjective in the English language for what she was feeling right now. "Eat me, jackass. You know I didn't do anything wrong." She would've let a punch accentuate her words, but she was still cuffed.

The man smirked. "Look, _Viper_. I don't know about your last boss-he's dead now, by the way. Flood got him, and a good few other officers. But what I'm saying is, I'm not so certain I trust you."

"I'm not so certain I _care._"

"Where is the machine?" the man said, cutting straight to it.

"I have no clue. I don't know any other way to make that clearer," she spat.

"Right, it just disappeared," the man replied, waving his hands. "You just _lost _a seven-foot mechanical man in New York City."

"You think I was more worried about the condition of an android than my own child when I heard about that whole tidal wave thing?" So maybe she was lying. But she didn't care. She didn't want to be a sitting duck when the next calamity struck.

"We know you defected, Viper. Deep cover in S.I.N. caused you to trade loyalties. How much did they have to pay you?"

"You shut your mouth," she snapped, incredulous at his assertion. "I can't believe you'd even-"

"Bison's face is all over the evening news, you were taken into custody with him in your party, not to mention that genetic experiment you tried to claim responsibility for! The android is missing, the weather's screwed up, natural disasters are wiping people out by the thousands! The shit has hit the fan, sweetheart, and you have something to do with it!"

She glared at him, at a loss for words. They thought she was aiding whoever was behind this? She did the only thing she really could in the situation, and laughed. "Buddy, are you in for a surprise."

"You're admitting your involvement with whatever affiliation is the cause of these disasters? To the theft of the android? To your cooperation with wanted terrorist M. Bison?"

She shook her head, still grinning. "If you even _knew _what you were up against, _Bison _would be the least of your worries."

* * *

He whipped around so quickly it almost made her dizzy. When she tried to question what the problem was, he waved a hand at her, as if to tell her to keep quiet. She strained her ears, trying to hear through the howling wind whatever he had. He squeezed his eyes shut, looking very focused. Then, he seemed satisfied, and said, "We have to move faster. I think the enemy was not just satisfied with sending us all the way out here."

"You mean...?" She didn't want to finish the sentence. Something like a polar bear would be frightening enough already. But to imagine it mutated into something even more monstrous...

"Keep your eyes open," he answered, turning to face forward again. Or was it backwards? They were both having a hard time telling which direction was the proper one to walk in. It didn't help that they had no idea where on Earth they were. It was also worrisome that no one had come to find them yet. This presented a few possibilities to them. All had to be considered, as little as they liked. Earth was either injured or incapacitated by some other means. It could be the only reason they hadn't been rescued yet.

Chun-Li was having a difficult time keeping up with Vega, and he didn't seem too keen on slowing down to wait for her. She didn't bother asking him to stop or wait, as she knew he wouldn't listen. It was only in the few instances where he got so far ahead of her that it was difficult to see him through the driving snow that she vocalised her irritation with his pace. He would roll his eyes and stop, crossing his arms as he waited impatiently for her to catch up. And she in turn would grit her teeth and try to ignore the pain, and secretly wish that he would just light up already and spare some heat. She didn't want to ask it of him-she'd never hear the end of it. She didn't want to ask for a rest, either. He was very good at holding things over her-or anyone, for that matter. She began to wonder as she struggled again to catch up with him just how much longer she would last out here. It wasn't something she wanted to think about, but knew it was a very real possibility that no one was coming for either of them. Had he considered it? If so, what was his plan? To just keep walking until he dropped dead from exposure or hunger?

This line of thinking finally drove her to shout to him over the wind, "Where are we going?"

He shrugged and shook his head.

"That's not a good enough reason for me to keep following you!"

"It's the only one you've got!"

She sighed irritably. It would be worse to be alone out here. He was nifty to have around not only for the pyrokinesis, but for his ability to detect an enemy before they were in view. It was generally only a few seconds or so, but any advance notice was better than none. And in this dark place, with snow driving into your face and stinging your eyes, it was great to have that sort of notice. She pulled her shirt up to rest over her nose, following his example, in an effort to keep her nose and mouth a little warmer. Her jacket was zipped up all the way, her hood over her head. It was still too cold. She crossed her arms, trying to tuck her fingers away from the cold wind.

"Keep up!" he shouted back to her, and she growled low in her throat. He was relentless.

"You aren't suffering two stab wounds," she groaned.

"Just one," he called back, irritated with her lack of urgency.

Her legs ached as she pushed through the snow. She tried to follow the path he'd created in front of her. She turned her eyes upward. Nothing but pitch black clouds and more blinding snow. She sighed. Were they even heading in a good direction?

"Stop, stop, stop!" he cried suddenly, holding up a hand. Dread overtook her, and she felt her heart leap up into her throat. Something had found them. He ran towards the nearby rocks, and she followed with some difficulty. Walking through the high snow was rough, but it was the only place to hide. They were both panting as they tried to keep in the dark shadows cast by the rocks, and he said, "You stay back. You'll only hinder things."

She gritted her teeth in frustration. "Don't you even try to play that crap with me," she snapped. "You're no better off fighting against these things than me."

"You're the one with two stab wounds," he hissed back.

"You're injured too!" she cried.

The sound of beating wings overhead drew both of their attentions upwards, and they stood completely still, barely breathing. He gripped his sword tightly, searching the skies for the creature. Then finally, he spotted the dark shape above them, and it was enormous. He felt his stomach drop. If they didn't get some help soon, they weren't going to be able to kill this thing...

"You look lost, travelers."

Their eyes locked, and Vega cried out without hesitation. He ran towards the shape that landed deftly in the snow, "You! It took you long enough you overgrown lizard!" Vega shouted, waving his hands. Chun-Li closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. The red dragon was a sight for sore eyes, but it made her wonder why he had come for them instead of Earth. She made her way towards the dragon.

"Ever so impatient," the dragon growled. "Not an ounce of gratitude in you, I swear it."

"I'll be grateful when we're out of this frozen hellhole," Vega responded, shaking his head.

"I don't want to sound ungrateful myself," Chun-Li said. "But where is Earth?"

"He's been incapacitated," Fire replied. "In the interest of science, I'm sure..."

"What do you mean?" Chun-Li gasped, worried.

"He's been sedated, but Rose and Bison remain with him," the dragon responded. "Or they did, when last I was there. Now, we must hurry and get back to him. We haven't got much time." The dragon leaned down, and Vega leaped onto his back without hesitation. Chun-Li stood and stared. She hadn't fully processed the fact that she would have to get up there too if she wanted to get out of here. Vega glanced down at her impatiently.

"Come on," he urged, nodding.

She bit her lip. She didn't want to show any apprehension or fear in front of him, and finally climbed on top of the dragon to sit behind Vega. He'd rather the dragon just carry her in his claws, but he knew she wouldn't allow that, and they didn't have time to argue. So he tolerated her closeness, just this once. "Just...just don't go _too _fast, okay?" she called out to the dragon.

Fire snorted, and with a rough shove, they lifted off the ground. Vega didn't seem nervous at all, but Chun-Li was a wreck, digging her nails into the dragon's leathery back. She looked over the side, watching the snowy ground and mountains rush by. Quickly she returned her eyes upward, squeezing them shut. "Oh my God, oh my God," she whispered over and over again. She heard Vega laugh, and gritted her teeth. "So I'm scared of flying on the back of a dragon! So sue me! I don't want to fall hundreds of feet to my death!"

Vega just shook his head, grinning behind his shirt. But the smile quickly faded when he noticed a familiar, and dreadful, sensation creeping over him. He glanced over his shoulder, beyond Chun-Li. There was nothing just yet, but he said, "Fire, evasive maneuvers may be in order."

"What?" Chun-Li cried. She couldn't-didn't want to-imagine being on the dragon's back as it executed 'evasive maneuvers'.

"I pity the creature that dares cross me now," Fire growled out, still furious from the attack on his sibling left back in the streets of America.

Vega scanned the sky behind them, squinting through the snow, and he saw it. It was not quite so large as Fire, but still big in its own right. Dark wings were spread fully, displaying its massive, almost twenty foot wingspan. The white body stood out against the dark sky, and its long, now razor sharp beak stretch wide to display an unnatural row of sharp teeth inside. It screeched loudly, and Chun-Li whipped her head around to see it. Her heart dropped, and she wanted to scream. They were still climbing in altitude, Fire beating his wings hard, and she didn't like where this was all headed. "How delightful," she heard Vega groan. "An albatross from Hell."

"Oh my God," Chun-Li cried. She was at a loss for words. The other creatures had been terrifying in their own right, but this one was special-they were going to be facing it miles from the ground. She blinked as they broke through the clouds, and the realisation of what sort of altitude that entailed left her stomach in knots. The mutated albatross broke through after them, and without the howl of the wind, she could clearly hear its terrifying shriek.

"Do hold on," Fire advised.

"You're not serious," Chun-Li responded.

"How fast do you think it can dive?" Vega questioned the dragon.

"Let's see," the dragon answered.

"You can't _be serious,_" Chun-Li cried again at the conversation. Vega didn't respond, just taking a tighter grip on the dragon and lowering himself somewhat. Chun-Li felt her heart racing. They were both insane, that's all there was to it. Diving? From up here? With that thing chasing them? Why didn't the dragon bring something for them to secure themselves with if he planned on flying like that? She was going to die, plummet straight back down to the earth. "This doesn't seem like a good-" she began, but her words trailed off into a blood-curdling scream as the dragon folded its wings and fell into a dive. She grabbed onto Vega, too terrified for pride at this point, and continued screaming frantically as the dragon fell faster and faster. They broke through the clouds again, and this only made things worse as the frozen shores of the continent came into view and rushed up to meet them.

The albatross followed, right on their tails. Chun-Li screamed again as they were less than twenty feet from the earth when the dragon flared his wings, and they jerked up suddenly, still maintaining unreasonable speeds. They sped around a glacier, too close to it for her comfort. The bird curved around, following them closely, shrieking. They ducked into a crevice in the glacier, and Chun-Li screamed, shaking her head as the dragon turned to fly completely on its side, one wing pointed to the ground, the other, towards the sky. She thought for sure they were going to die here, drop straight into the ice. The dragon was so close the the wall of the glacier that she was certain they were going to crash right into it. And then finally, he did make contact, claws grabbing onto the frozen walls and shoving them off again. They shot back up into the air, over the sea now, and the bird still tailed them. Vega glanced over his shoulder, Chun-Li screaming in his face, "_You're both insane! This is crazy! We're going to die!"_

The dragon flared its wings again, and much to Chun-Li's relief, they slowed down some, and the albatross overshot them. The dragon growled deep in his throat, and Chun-Li felt warm air drifting back towards them, and a ball of fire shot straight for the bird. The bird shrieked as it just barely ducked the flames. It wheeled around, and Chun-Li's eyes grew wide as she realised it was coming back for an attack. Another ball of fire was spat at the bird, and it ducked before shooting back up to meet them head on. It's claws were right overhead, lashing out, and Chun-Li saw a spurt of red when Vega reached up with his falcata, slicing clean through the bird's flank. It screeched, behind them now, and they all looked back to see what had happened.

It was still stable, and was pumping its black wings in order to catch up with them again. It fell into a dive, ready to strike them, and Chun-Li screamed again as the dragon spiraled into a corkscrew turn. They were upside down for the briefest of seconds, and she thought for sure they'd fall right off of the dragon. She was nearly suffocating Vega now, and he growled, "Let _go_!" But she was too petrified to listen.

The bird made its move, claws raking forward and sweeping just over Chun-Li and Vega. She ducked as low as she could, and he struck out again, only shaving off a few tail feathers this time. The dragon spat another ball of fire, this time making contact, and the albatross shrieked, diving sharply into the ocean. "Is it dead?" Chun-Li ventured to ask, voice shaking.

"I'll not wait around to find out," Fire responded, leaving the creature behind them. She looked back over her shoulder, watching the water with apprehension. All of this flying, she decided, was a little much. She couldn't wait to get her feet back on the ground.

* * *

"I'm concerned about Earth," Ryu said to Charlie as they trudged side by side through the snow. The dragon in question still hadn't come for them, and things were not getting any better. They'd been walking for some time now, but it seemed like they were getting nowhere. "What could have happened?"

Charlie squinted against the snow as he thought. It was a pain in the ass, being out here like this and so unprepared. The snow was deep, nearly reaching up to their hips. And they weren't exactly short guys, either. "Couple of things," Charlie responded, having to raise his voice to be heard over the wind. "The enemy could have done something to keep him from coming. You know, we don't really get the 'rules' in this game explained to us, after all."

Ryu hadn't considered that an option yet. It'd most just been thoughts of the poor dragon being injured. But such an instance had occurred before where the android 'gave up a turn' in order to give the group some vital information. And that had entailed Earth being unable to locate and travel to meet them. Maybe the same thing was happening again. But he couldn't help but feel as if something had just gone very wrong for the dragon. And he wasn't just worried about Earth, either. Sakura was with them. He felt a little reassurance knowing Guile was likely still with her. She had Rose, too, he supposed. But knowing that he left her anywhere near Bison made him uneasy. And was the enemy at all concerned with harming the rest of the group? He didn't know what he'd do if Sakura got hurt.

"Look, Ryu," Charlie said, glancing over at the Japanese man beside him. "There are some things we have to face-like the possibility that we aren't going to be rescued."

Ryu frowned, but nodded. He knew it was something they should start considering. They had been left out here alone for one night, and it could very well end up being another. If that were the case, it was senseless to not develop some sort of plan in order to maximize their life expectancy out in the frozen wilderness. "I'm not exactly sure how we could go about finding anything combustible," Ryu responded. "And without some way to keep warm, we're going to end up dead very quickly."

Charlie nodded in agreement. He was a little relieved to see Ryu wasn't the hysterical type. And he didn't ignore obstacles he didn't want to face. It made things a lot smoother for the two of them if they both kept cool heads. "That also brings up the issue of food," Charlie said. "Without something to cook with, we can't hunt. And I doubt any fruit-bearing plants are growing in this kind of weather."

"Judging by that noise, we're getting closer to the shore," Ryu responded. "So we can hopefully get some fish that way." They'd been heading towards the steady drone that they hoped was the ocean crashing against the icy shorelines since they'd woken up that morning. It seemed as good a plan as any, and they'd found their way out onto a thick ice sheet. They were getting closer by the minute, and at least then, maybe they could find food somehow. Maybe follow the shoreline to some kind of base or anything they could use to communicate with others.

Charlie nodded. "Good idea, but can we eat them without cooking them?"

"Yes," Ryu answered. "So I think that's our best bet for food."

The blond wrinkled his nose, but ultimately decided gross food was better than none at all. "Okay, water it is then," he said. The drone of the ocean was much closer now. They hadn't even heard so much as a chirp in their time here, and tracking anything through this weather would be hell. He'd already tried once or twice to get the wind to die down, but the fact that it didn't work told him this wasn't natural. Someone was orchestrating these gales. Juri, he presumed. Or rather, the force using her like a puppet. He wondered what kind of lies it'd told the kid to get her to work for it. He didn't know anything about her, other than the sad fact that Bison apparently had her parents killed and Vega had been the one to do it. Thoughts like those made him feel a little sick at the fact that they had to work with Vega through this, but if it was necessary for the salvation of the planet, then he couldn't exactly argue against it.

Ryu sighed, unable to see the humour in such a hopeless situation. "We're not going to make it back home again, are we?" he asked, looking up at the pitch black sky still pouring with snow.

"Don't get yourself down," Charlie replied, shaking his head. "Just have hope. We can make this work."

Ryu wasn't so sure he could agree with the man. If no one found them, they'd be lost out here, frozen to death, or starved.

A very low call split the perpetual night, and both men stood completely still as they tried to figure out how far away it was, and from which direction it had come. Ryu silently added it to his list of possible causes of death. "Let's move a lot quicker now," Charlie whispered, nodding slowly.

"Yeah," Ryu agreed, and both men picked up their pace. Another noise made them both look over their shoulders. It was closer now. Had it even come directly from behind? Neither could be sure.

"So this bad guy," Charlie began, "it um, turns other animals into monsters, right?"

"That's been the theme so far," Ryu replied as they were all but jogging through the snow as best as they could. The noises were steadily growing closer, and both men felt a rush of adrenaline fueling them.

"What kind of fauna do you think are milling around this area?" Charlie asked. He'd never thought much about arctic wildlife. Or Antarctic, for that matter. Either place, he figured, was an option.

"I have no idea," Ryu responded. Animals were never something he held too much interest in. He was beginning to regret that now. Suddenly, the ground beneath them shook as they heard more of the noises and something not too far from them cracked loudly, echoing against the frozen mountains behind them.

"The hell was that?" Charlie cried, spinning around, looking for something in the dark. In the direction that they believed the shore to be in, he saw a spray of white jump into the sky, and huge chunks of ice were sent flying through the air.

"I don't know if the shore is such a good idea anymore," Ryu decided with a shake of his head.

There was a long, drawn out groan, and they could see some massive, dark shape leaping from the ice. It slammed to the ground, another crack reverberating through the air. "That is..." Charlie said, staring in disbelief. The thing was enormous, like a building laid out on its side. It moaned out another one of the incredibly low calls as it slid back into the ocean. "That-that's a-"

"A _blue whale,"_Ryu supplied as he stared in awe at the gaping hole in the ice shelf.

Both men were torn from their reverie as another sharp noise cut through the waling blizzard. They turned around, and saw a fissure steadily snaking its way through the ice they were walking on. Snow fell through into the sea beneath them. The ground shook as once more the massive creature slammed full force into ice. Both men were thrown back, and scrambled to their feet. "How the hell do we fight _that?_" Charlie cried as they began racing in the opposite direction.

Ryu didn't have an answer, and just kept running until suddenly, the whale shot up into the air, only its front half exposed to them. It slammed down onto the now dislodged piece of ice, and both men were once again thrown to the ground. Now the icy sheet was at an incline, and both Ryu and Charlie could feel themselves sliding down with the rest of the piled up snow. "Oh shit, shit," Charlie hissed as he caught sight of the enormous, gaping maw of the whale beneath them.

"Quick!" Ryu shouted, drawing out his weapon in a moment of quick thinking and stabbing it into the ice. Charlie caught on and did the same, shoving the claymore into the thick ice. They were nearly dangling vertically over the whale's open mouth now, still frightened but satisfied that they were no longer headed straight for it.

"Okay, that's good," Charlie said with a nod. "But what now?"

"I didn't get that far," Ryu called down to Charlie. He looked around, spotting the turbulent sea nearly all around them. The mountains still lay behind them, with the whale between them and the land. Ryu tried to think of a reasonable way to get out of here before their arms got tired. If they kept sliding down, they would have very little time to reorient themselves before reaching the whale. There were no guarantees that they would be able to get out of the way of the creature's mouth. Solid land was their only safety right now, but the enormous creature stood in their way.

"We better think _fast_," Charlie cried out as the whale, noticing what its prey had done, slid back into the ocean for another jump. It was clearly being manipulated, acting with too much purpose to be any normal whale. And he was pretty sure blue whales didn't consider anything larger than krill to be prey. The ice sheet fell back to the ocean, and they were both a little disoriented as it bobbed loosely in the water. Both of them yanked their blades from the ice, and got to their feet. They had a few seconds to get on the other side of the fissure created by the whale, and they weren't going to hesitate. They broke into a run, ready to jump, but somehow the enemy had been anticipating which direction they would go. The whale didn't reappear in the same spot as before, but was emerging not more than a few feet ahead of them, a towering monstrosity in the dark. Ice flew everywhere, the whale let out another one of its low-pitched groans, and Charlie and Ryu screamed, unashamed at the terror the enormous creature instilled in them. They ran back the way they had come, and were again toppled over as the whale finally slammed back into the ice. They slid, rolled onto their backs, able to face the open mouth below them.

Charlie felt his boots hit the lip of the whale. He grabbed hold of Ryu in the hopes that they could somehow ride this out and try again. Both men planted their feet along the whale's mouth, but it wiggled madly. It was difficult for them to retain their precarious footing, and Charlie cried out as he fell head first, taking Ryu down with him. They both felt warm, smelly air pass over them as they rushed by the baleen plates overhead, saw a strangely small throat for a creature so large, panicked thoughts rushing through their heads and they regretted that they would be the reason that so many people would have to suffer.

But then suddenly, they weren't falling down anymore-they were falling _up_and both men were left severely disoriented and confused. Charlie cracked open an eye, and saw the form of the whale receding beneath him. It gave out another low-pitched groan and slid back into the water. The blond gave a relieved laugh, and turned his eyes upwards, seeing a familiar golden creature soaring upwards. "Your timing was impeccable!" Charlie shouted.

Ryu, still staring at the near-death experience below, was too stunned to say much. They'd come very close to losing their lives. Even if the whale couldn't eat them, it definitely could've drowned them, trapped them in there with a mouthful of saltwater. He shuddered even thinking about it. But now, in just an instant, they were safe again. He looked up to see that Air had saved them. He was glad for that much. It wasn't just getting away from the whale that was relieving, but knowing that someone _had _been looking for them, that the others were okay.

"Hold tight," Air ordered. "It's quite a ways back to the others."

"Are they okay?" Ryu asked.

"When last I saw them, there was some trouble," she replied. "I am unsure of their situation as of now."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Earth has been sedated, but Rose and Bison are with him." Ryu was glad to know Rose was there to keep the dragon safe, but he didn't like the idea of Bison being near the dragon while he wasn't there. Earth could sense something wrong about Bison, and had enough presence of mind to be wary of the man. But it still made him anxious. Bison was a master of manipulation. He wanted to think the dragon wouldn't be soured in the same way Fire had, but he knew nothing could be certain.

"What about Vega and Chun-Li?" Charlie asked. "Where are they?"

"Fire is after them as we speak," she answered. That was also relieving. So far, it seemed as if everyone was still in one piece. The only problem was with whatever had happened to Earth, and Ryu was definitely ready to resolve it.

* * *

"I'm not certain how long we can keep this up," Rose admitted finally, standing placidly behind the still unconscious dragon. It had been hours since they'd shot him, and he hadn't twitched at all. And while she, in tandem with Bison, had been able to guard him against the advancements of what was now quickly becoming a veritable army of animal control officers and police, they wouldn't be able to do it forever.

"He'll wake any minute now, I'm sure," Bison proclaimed, though he most certainly wasn't sure. He simply couldn't admit to any uncertainty in front of her.

It was quite a show the city was getting-Chicago, as it turned out-and a rather large crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of the strange creature and its defenders. The animal control people had given up on trying to get close enough to get a hold of the animal. They weren't entirely sure how to transport it at first, but a truck had arrived awhile ago, waiting for them to load the animal up. But any time anyone got close, one of the two defenders took action, and everyone was back at square one.

Bison had been identified easily enough. Even without his iconic Shadaloo attire, he had been recognised for who he was, and that meant involvement from organisations a little more higher than local cops. They knew Bison was strong, but no one had believed stories of his more supernatural strengths until now as countless people witnessed grown men being thrown back without any physical contact acted on them. Rose was a mystery entirely, but they were much more concerned with taking Bison into custody, along with the monstrosity that many had come to decide was a genetically engineered animal created by Bison. A few claimed it was a dinosaur. But neither Bison nor Rose would comment on it, so no one could be sure they were right.

From the safety of the crowd, Guile and Sakura still kept a close eye on the dragon. "Why won't he wake up already?" Sakura whispered.

"An animal of that size, they weren't going to take any chances on keeping it down," Guile responded. "They probably gave him a little more than necessary. They wouldn't want him to wake up during transit."

"What would they do with him if they caught him?"

"Try to study him, I guess," Guile answered with a shrug. "But he'd disappear as soon as he was conscious enough to do so, I think. That's all we're waiting on now."

Sakura bit her lip. It was a long and grueling wait, especially with all of these people clamouring for a glimpse of the poor dragon. "Do you think Ryu and the others are okay?" she asked.

Guile sighed. He didn't really have any way of knowing that, but still said, "I'm sure they're fine. You know them, they're all pretty persistent." He didn't want to make things worse for her by saying they very well could be dead by now. It was a harsh possibility, but still required consideration. From him, at least. He felt it was senseless to upset her if things weren't at their worst.

"And what about Maya?"

Guile suppressed a sigh. Ryu was truly a patient man. Sakura was a sweet girl, a loyal friend, but sometimes, he just wished she'd be quiet for more than a few seconds. "No idea. She's been arrested for stealing something. Maybe her agency thinks she took the android to sabotage their efforts."

"Will she be okay?"

"Yeah. Just incarcerated."

Sakura frowned. She couldn't write the woman off as easily as Guile. The woman wasn't absolutely necessary for operations to continue, as Ryu, Chun-Li, Vega and Charlie were. But she still didn't like the idea that Maya was being punished for something she didn't even do wrong.

"It moved!"

The cry caught everyone's attention, and suddenly everyone was speaking and pointing as the dragon's tail twitched. Bison and Rose didn't dare take their eyes off the crowd long enough to confirm the claim. But they were given reassurance when the dragon groaned loudly, almost as if it were yawning. Bison rolled his eyes. It was _napping_. It wasn't just sedated-it was catching up on its sleep! "How can we tell it to take us to Ryu?" Bison demanded of Rose.  
"We can't influence him," she responded. "He'll go somewhere he deems safe."

"Didn't he deem this as safe before?" Bison asked sarcastically. He didn't have a lot of faith in the creature. Vega's earlier assessment that the animal was a giant infant was more apt than he had initially thought.

"He is having trouble adjusting to the changes we have made to this planet," Rose said.

Sakura, meanwhile, ran to the dragon when she saw it waking up. Guile grabbed for her, but missed. The girl slipped beneath some barriers that had been set up, and breezed by one of the cops. Guile tried to follow her, but was stopped by the officer who'd tried to stop her to begin with. "Earth!" she cried, catching the dragon's attention. His mind was still a little fuzzy from the sleep, but he recognised her instantly as Ryu's friend, and his tail thumped like a dog who'd just spotted its master after a long absence.

"Hey, get that kid!" someone shouted.

Sakura glanced around, but didn't stop running. Guile smirked. She was giving a bunch of cops a run for their money. "Sorry officer," he murmured as he shoved the man away. He didn't like roughing up a cop, and understood the man was just trying to do his job. But he had to stay with Sakura.

"Earth, take us somewhere safe!" Sakura cried. The dragon focused its dopey eyes on her briefly, but then spotted all of the other people. There were tons of them, staring in awe and making all kinds of noises. And then...there were the men with the guns again. Were they everywhere now? Was there somewhere safe anymore?

_Ryu?_he thought, wondering where his friend was. He could feel him, far, far away with his brother and sister. Water was still here, waiting with the little girl.

_Air and Fire are after them. We must go somewhere new, quickly,_the other dragon said.

And before anyone else could give him any advice, he complied. He knew exactly where they had to go. All of them.


	32. The Anomaly

"What's the story?" the man asked, crossing his arms. "Where have you been for the past few days, and where is the machine now?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, so why should I bother?" Viper responded with a shrug. This guy was a little bit less of a dick than the first, so she was willing to throw him a bone. She just knew he wasn't going to accept anything she had to say about her whereabouts, and she had no idea where the android was.

"Try me," the man said, tossing a folder at her. She looked at it hesitantly, and then flipped it open. The first page was a photograph of a beach that was nearly empty, save for a few familiar faces. She recognised Chun-Li, Ryu, and Sakura, even from the distance the photo had been taken with. They were with a big, brown and green creature-the dragon Earth. She moved it aside, spotting the next image-satellite imagery of a region in southeast Asia. There was nearly a perfect circle of cloudless sky, the rest of the ground covered up by thick, dark clouds. The next image, a thermal reading of the area gave the temperatures to be in the nineties, with a sudden drop to near freezing in, again, almost a completely uniform circle. Then, the next picture revealed a few stills of what looked to be security footage. It was sort of grainy, as the DVRs in most stores often were, but she could make out what she needed to. A group of big, ugly looking dogs-bigger than any canine had any right to be, were tearing through what looked like a mall. And there, she spotted the only group of people not in the act of running-Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile, Sakura, and Vega. Then suddenly, in the next still, as if by magic, there again was Earth, and with him, a big, red dragon. Then suddenly, they were all gone, and a few stills later, the dogs shrank, returning to their normal size, scampering off as if nothing had ever happened. Then finally, there was the most recent public fiasco-the sudden appearance of four dragons and the world's most wanted pair of terrorists, two members of the USAF, an Interpol agent, a gypsy, a little girl, and a kid who looked like an extra from a Bruce Lee film. All in the middle of downtown Chicago.

Viper raised her eyebrows, and shrugged. "Well. These are some pretty pictures," she said finally.

"You're in that last one. We've managed to identify almost all the rest." He slid forward another folder, opening this one himself and going through the pages. "World's most wanted man, terrorist leader, M. Bison. Wanted for drug trafficking, arms dealing, crimes against humanity, murder, extortion, bribery, kidnapping, fraud, and conspiracy. Andres Quesada Navarro, or Vega de Cerda, as the rest of the world knows him, wanted for kidnapping, money laundering, perjury, fraud, and a number of murders, we're still unsure as to how many. Twenty-six cases connected to him so far, but those are only the ones we can prove. He's suspect in dozens more. And then we have the flip side of the coin. US Air Force Major William Guile. Curiously enough, with him in this photo is a man who has been missing for years now-US Air Force First Lieutenant Charlie Nash. Now where's he been all this time, and what's he doing in the company of two of Shadaloo's leaders? And here's Interpol Agent Chun-Li Xiang, who has been working all Shadaloo related cases for her entire career. Why is she with them? The other two, we don't have files on yet. Care to help us out with answering some of these questions?"

Viper sighed heavily. "Those two, that's Ryu Hoshi. He's a big name in a lot of MMA circuits, but there isn't much to him. The girl's just a student of his. Sakura. I don't even know her last name."

"All right, good. Now what are they all doing together, what are the creatures they've been spotted with repeatedly, and what do they have to do with the meteorological anomaly in Thailand?" the man asked. He was a lot more respectful, a lot less condescending than the first man. It made her more willing to speak with him. When treated like an adult, she tended to behave like one.

"Well, you say you'll believe me. But here's your first test," she answered, crossing her arms. "The little monster guys there, they're dragons. There's four of them in all, apparently, and four of the people in the group were hand-picked by them to save the world from the source of you 'meteorological anomaly'."

He didn't seem as annoyed as she thought he would. "All right. Let's say that's true. Who are our four, then?"

"Ryu, Chun-Li, Charlie, and Vega."

"What is the source of the anomaly?" the man asked.

"This little chick. Juri Han. See, there's these two guys who have been going at it for like, billions of years or something, I don't know," Viper replied, shaking her head. "It all sounds ridiculous, I know, and if I hadn't been there for so much of this, I wouldn't believe it either. But I was. The android recovered from SIN is the good guy, and it's trying to help stop the bad guy, Juri. But it says the dragons and their buddies have to go toe to toe with this chick to get the weather to stop acting up. And if I had to guess, I'd say this little anomaly of yours is where Miss Juri has set up shop."

"And you're certain this woman is the source of the recent natural disasters? The quakes, the floods, the meteor showers?"

"Think about it," she said. "That meteor shower, for example. Wouldn't NASA, or even an amateur astronomer, have noticed thousands of rocks big enough to cause that much damage over such a wide area, long before it even got close to Earth? What cause the sea levels to rise so suddenly if the world got _colder?_The ice caps couldn't have melted, so what was it? And that many earthquakes, that severe, in the same instance, all over the world? That doesn't seem unnatural to you? Almost like it's something orchestrated?"

"How was it done, then?" the man asked.

"That, I can't give an answer for," she said. "All I know is, that chick is behind it. The dragons and their friends are the only people who can stop her. And if you want things to be made right again, you're going to have to stay out of their way."

The man was silent as he gathered the photographs and files back together. He tapped them against the table to straighten them out, and stood from his seat. "Thank you, Agent Maya, for your cooperation."

"Can I leave now?" she asked. If she wasn't with the group of world-savers, she wanted desperately to be with her daughter.

"We still have a few more things we'd like to get your opinion on," the man responded. "It shouldn't be too much longer." She sighed and rolled her eyes as he left the room. Outside, in the corridor, the man who had been questioning her found his superior watching the entire conversation through the two-way mirror. The older man shook his head at the conversation.

"What do you think?" the man asked.

"The stress of the recent events has probably gotten to her," the man responded. "The story is pretty elabourate, but very far-fetched."

"Then what have we learned about the situation?"

"Probably nothing," the man answered, shaking his head. "Waste of time."

"What do you think those monsters are, then?"

"When Agent Maya was first apprehended, she claimed they were genetic experiments. Most likely the work of Bison. Note that they have always been spotted with Bison or Vega in all instances except for one."

"What do you propose we do about it?"

The man shrugged. "If it were my decision, I'd destroy them. There's no telling what Bison may intend to use them for, what they are capable of. For all we know, they could be responsible for the disasters. And it would explain why what is believed to be the coordinates of Shadaloo is the only place on Earth not suffering unseasonable, extreme cold, or complete cloud cover."

The other man nodded in agreement. "It's just a matter of catching the damned things."

"We've put one out cold once," the other responded. "I see no reason we couldn't do it again."

* * *

Earth didn't like this place, but knew they had to be here. It wasn't exactly where he was trying to go, but it was as close as he could get. Heaving a quiet sigh, he turned to make sure everyone was accounted for. There was Water, still in the arms of the nice girl who was Ryu's friend. She looked around, inquisitive, wondering where they were now. The tall blond man stood next to her, one eyebrow raised as he realised that it was still very warm here. And humid. The heavy layers were going to get tossed off pretty quick if they stuck around here for too long. He shrugged off his jacket and asked, "Where are we now?" But Earth wasn't really interested in him as much.

He looked up, and overhead, Air burst into existence, a bright, golden streak across a blue sky. She flared her wings quickly, passengers bewildered at the sudden halt. The dragon whirled around in a tight spiral, making a final stop in the tall grasses along the banks of the slow moving river. Earth thumped his tail happily. He saw not just Charlie, but Ryu, and he called out to his friend. The Japanese man looked up quickly, and relief came over his features as he processed his surroundings. Earth was okay, and so was Sakura. "Where are Chun-Li and Vega?" he asked, looking around. The idea that the two of them had been left alone together was a horrifying one, but he supposed the fact that the world hadn't been inundated by turbulent waves or scorched by intense heat meant things hadn't gone too terribly for them.

Earth focused for a brief second, and then, suddenly, a horrified scream could be heard as the dragon raced across the sky. Noting the sudden change in elevation, Fire muttered out a curse, drawing his claws up suddenly and slowing to land heavily on the grass. Chun-Li's eyes were wide as saucers, arms wrapped around Vega's torso like a vice, and she refused to move, still coming to terms with the terror of the height and speed of their flight. She wasn't screaming anymore, but breathing heavily as she tried to calm herself down.

"Get! Your! Arms! Off! Of! Me!" Vega growled, each word punctuated by a wiggle or shove, but the woman looked too lost to pay much attention to him. Finally, he managed to get out of her grasp, and sighed irritably. "Unnecessary," he muttered as he jumped down from the dragon's back, looking around at the tropical foliage.

"What did you do?" Guile cried at the sight of his friend, running towards the dragon to help her down.

"I didn't do anything," Vega snapped. "And I'd quite appreciate it if you would stop leveling accusations at me every time your little sweetheart breaks a nail."

Guile didn't have the patience to argue with the man, instead trying to figure out what had gone wrong. "Chun-Li? Hey, are you all right?"

Slowly she nodded, then turned her eyes to him. "Flying. Horrifying."

"Such a baby," Vega uttered under his breath.

"He was making three-hundred and sixty degree turns! We were _upside down _with nothing to keep us from plummeting hundreds of miles _to our deaths!" _she shrieked.

"Spare us the melodramatics, you're here, and alive, aren't you?" Vega replied.

"Oh, that's rich, you telling someone to not be melodramatic," Guile retorted, crossing his arms. "Why don't you try out that whole 'empathy' thing one day and see if maybe you can work on being a little more humane?" Vega seized Guile by his collar, to which Guile reacted quickly by grabbing his assailant in a similar manner. Earth lowed quietly as he watched, greatly upset with the Spaniard's inability to behave better.

Chun-Li slid down carefully off of the dragon's back, watching the two men. "That isn't a good idea, Will," she warned. She knew the man was too stubborn to back down, but he didn't realise, it didn't matter how much stronger than Vega he was physically. He'd die a pretty painful death before even delivering the first blow. All of her former fear from the flight was gone, replaced by an anxious worry over her friend.

"Hey, come on you two," Ryu said, holding out a hand. Sakura watched anxiously as the two men stared each other down, looking ready to rip each other's throats out.

"You think you've got what it takes to play with a grown up, kid?" Guile snapped, tightening his grip. "Think you're going to find real men don't care much for that flashy shit you call combat. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two."

"If you burn a man severely enough, it leaves him so unrecognizable that they must use his _teeth _to identify him," Vega hissed, narrowing his eyes, a familiar tingling sensation itching at his fingers.

"Good thing I've never been afraid of a few fireworks," Guile said back.

"_Enough,_" Fire snapped, stamping a claw to the ground. "You're both bloody children in my eyes, and I've grown tired of babysitting!" The two men were yanked apart by the dragon's leathery red hands, and were pressed to the ground by massive palms over their chests. Guile looked a little more panicked, given how unusual the situation was, but Vega was still too pissed to feel much of anything else yet. "Do you think we all enjoy hearing you bicker with everyone?" the dragon snapped as it looked to Vega. "You're one of the four people on this planet capable of saving it, and you seem to have no interest whatsoever in assuming your duties properly, instead sabotaging things and making life generally miserable for _everyone!_ It's time to behave!" Then his horned head snapped to look at Guile, and he snarled, "And you! The girl isn't your child, and is damned well capable of taking care of herself! Leave her to solve her own problems, instead of gallantly trying to solve them for her!" He relinquished his grasp, and stepped back, turning his eyes back to Vega. "If you can't learn to cooperate with them, we are _all _going to die!"

Everyone was silent at that. Guile pushed himself to his feet with a sigh, brushing off his shirt. He still looked pretty irritated, and those who knew him well enough knew he'd remain so for the next several minutes. He tended to have trouble letting things go, especially when he felt he was right. Vega, however, leaned on his elbows in the dirt and looked up at the blue sky-something none of them had seen in awhile. He let his head fall back a little more, looking at Bison who appeared now to be upside-down. "_Crees que todos vamos a morir, capitan?"_he asked with a grin.

"_Si esta ruinas, Vega, lo sé, al menos, que va a morir_," the man responded dangerously. Vega's smile faded, and he returned his gaze forward.

"Where are we, anyway?" Charlie asked, trying to steer away from the tension. "It's still warm here."

"Are we in the future again?" Sakura asked.

"No," Air responded.

_We're here to fight your enemy,_ Water answered.

"She lives in the jungle?" Chun-Li asked, raising an eyebrow.

Earth lowered his head, feeling a little ashamed. _I'm sorry. She wouldn't let me get closer._

"Who wouldn't let you get closer?" Charlie asked.

"What's he saying?" Guile questioned. Sakura, himself, Rose, and Bison had been perhaps the only ones ready to be thrust into a new landscape. But none of them had been expecting to end up in the heat. The cold over the world seemed to be everywhere, given how much traveling they'd done since the start of this. Since the first snowfall in Japan that Ryu and Sakura noticed, the weather had not changed, so far as they knew.

Charlie relayed the short conversation as the dragon explained their destination: _I intended to take us to the evil one. But...this was as close as she would allow me to come._

"Where is this?" Sakura asked, looking around at all of the tropical foliage. The river behind them was not very wide, and moved slowly.

"I have a guess," Bison said with a sigh as he looked around to confirm his suspicions. He couldn't be absolutely certain, as some tropical locales tended to resemble each other greatly in some way or another, and he was not terribly familiar with this area. "We're in Thailand. A few hundred miles west of Bangkok, perhaps?"

"We're at Shadaloo?" Guile asked in disbelief. His head whipped around, expecting shock troops in their Nazi-esque attire to come crashing through the jungle, M16 assault rifles in hand loaded and ready to fire. But there was nothing but jungle around them, not even the remotest sight of any kind of civilisation. Shadaloo's base was something Bison managed to protect very well, and it was difficult to locate. He knew, because he, along with many other men in many different governments, had been searching for it for years now. It was infiltrated once by Delta Red agent Cammy White, but she had her latent memories of the area working for her. So the fact that they were here was exhilarating, to say the least.

"Not quite," Bison said, shaking his head. "If we are in the area I am thinking of, we should be able to follow this river northward. There will be a dock. From there, I can guide us directly to the compound."

Ryu turned to Earth. "Is it true? Were you trying to take us to Shadaloo?"

_Yes, _he said emphatically, nodding his head. He didn't know, exactly, what 'Shadaloo' was. Human names for places eluded him most of the time, and he could only remember a handful of names. He remembered them for their feeling, their distinct looks-because each _did _have their own distinct looks, regardless of how similar a human may have thought their landscapes to be. He also remembered them for the people, and how they felt here. In Shadaloo, as they called it, the people often felt angry, upset, weak, helpless... It was a nexus of bad emotions, whether those emotions were displayed freely by the bearer, or buried deep, deep underneath, where they hoped no one would find it. It was a place that upset him, and he supposed it made perfect sense that this avatar of destruction would take up residence here.

"Then let's go," Ryu said. "Ken's waiting for us, and so are the rest of our friends."

So they followed Bison, who led them up the river as he had planned. They had to admit, it made them nervous, following him into his own fortress. S.I.N. was one thing-even if it had been an extension of Shadaloo, they'd all gone in thinking Bison was dead and gone. They learned just how wrong they were about that, however, but it wasn't until the place was collapsing in on them that they found out. Following Bison into Shadaloo, however, felt like a death march. Very few people who went in there with the intention of sabotaging operations, or even to simply scope the place out for future attacks came out alive. They all knew Bison had his own agenda here, they just weren't certain of what it was yet. And with all of that looming over their heads, there was the added fact that the person apparently in the seat of power there now was Juri Han, someone already cunning and powerful, with the help of the Feng Shui engine implanted in her eye. This was augmented to an infinite degree by the force which currently manipulated her, making her a much more terrifying foe than Bison in this instance. She would be imposing normally, to any of them, save perhaps Bison and Rose, but now, she was something to be outright feared.

"Well," Sakura said, breaking the brief silence. "At least the weather's warm!"

"Just wait until it starts raining for hours on end," Vega muttered irritably. He hated the jungle. Too many bugs, too many poisonous things. He'd stayed in this place for a few years before he'd gained a high enough rank with privileges which allowed him to return home for more than a few weeks at a time. The first thing he did was purchase a dwelling right on the beach-the only bugs that would bother him there were sand gnats and the occasional house fly. He never wanted to see a centipede bigger than his hand again. "Or when the bears and bugs start coming out. You'll be begging for the cold cities soon enough, sweetheart."

Sakura glanced over at him, wide-eyed. "Are there...are there really _bears?_" she whispered to Ryu.

He shrugged, unsure exactly. He knew there were tigers, but they would be much rarer. He supposed it wouldn't be too crazy to see a bear out here too. So then, he nodded. "But I'm sure we won't see any. Animals tend to stay away from humans. When they hear us coming, they usually go the other way."

"I wonder why the bad guy picked this spot," Sakura said, looking around. She knew a lot of people went to tropical places for vacation. Maybe that had something to do with it.

"To spite me, I'm sure," Bison answered.

"What'd you do?" Charlie asked. "I mean, aside from the whole human experimentation, brainwashing, assassinations, drug running, arms dealing...thing."

"I ordered her father to be killed. Her mother was terminated as well, and Juri was injured in the process," Bison responded.

"Why did you kill her mom?" Sakura asked. It was out of morbid curiosity, perhaps. She felt bad for Juri to some extent. It wasn't fair to her to have her family taken from her like that. She wondered briefly, as she had of Vega, what she had been like before everything went wrong for her, what she could've been like if it hadn't. Maybe she'd been a straight-A student. Or had some really amazing talent that she enjoyed cultivating. But it probably all fell apart for her, and Sakura couldn't help but feel bad, even if she'd gone on to do some terrible things.

"She presented a threat," Vega answered. He'd been there, after all, and not Bison.

"That's complete crap," Chun-Li said heatedly. "There's no way a middle-aged woman could've been a threat to somebody like you! Even then, you didn't have to _kill_ her!"

"I consider anyone with a gun pointed at me a threat," Vega replied with a shrug. He remembered that she was supposed to be gone with some business related trip. But somehow, plans had changed very quickly, and he didn't have time to learn about it before breaking into their home at night. He meant it to be as quick and efficient as any other job he'd worked for Bison, but this added element of surprise made things quite a mess. The woman was very nervous, probably hadn't ever held the firearm that her husband kept for protection. She'd fired once, and that was what woke Juri. He killed the husband, and after being shot at by the wife, he killed her. And Juri had seen that. Whether it was an adrenaline rush or an absurd amount of confidence, she charged at him, ready to pummel him into oblivion. But she was just a kid. He was a lot of things, but he was not a child killer. Couldn't stand them, but couldn't bring himself to kill them, either. Her attack had startled him, and he lashed out purely on instinct. When his claw met her face, she shrieked, and as he glanced down at her, realising his mistake, he saw one eye wide and terrified, the other pouring blood. He disappeared as quickly as he'd come, not willing to make anymore of a mess than he had.

"Shit," Charlie sighed. "You guys never think these things will come back to bite you in the ass?"

"This is quite an unusual case, if I do say so myself," Bison responded. "Not every person I have assassinated has a child who goes on to become the avatar for a cosmic force powerful enough to obliterate entire galaxies."

"But it's always a possibility, apparently," Guile said with mock cheer.

"Why do you think it's still so warm here?" Sakura asked. She looked up, seeing only the occasional white, fluffy cloud pass overhead, not the thick, grey sheets that seemed to cover the rest of the world.

"Because she's here," Rose answered. "I suppose this is the sort of weather she prefers."

"Well...that's good I guess," the girl responded. This had all been there initial train of thought at first. But as time wore on, and they reached the docks which Bison had mentioned, they had all shed as many layers as possible in an effort to cool off. It wasn't just the heat, but the humidity, which left it feeling even hotter than it was. The air was thick and felt almost difficult to breathe. Jackets had been tied around waists and tossed over shoulders, or, if the initial wearer was tricky enough, pawned off on someone else to carry.

"Are you sure we have to walk?" Guile groaned, leaning against one of the wood posts of the dock as they stopped for a brief break. "Can't you two just fly us there or something?"

"We aren't pack mules, boy," Fire snapped. "It won't kill you to walk."

"Your enemy would become aware of us much quicker if we were to take you there," Air responded. "And we cannot carry all of you at once."

"Figured it didn't hurt to ask," Guile said.

"How much further is it from here?" Ryu asked, looking at Bison.

The man pointed along a trail that was starting to become overgrown with grass again. It had been some time since Shadaloo had been operating, so the area was not traversed as regularly as before. "It's that way. Not much more than a mile."

"Why didn't you want a waterfront base?" Charlie groaned a little. He wasn't at all looking forward to another mile of this heat.

"It won't kill you, keep moving," Bison responded, heading into the trees.

There was, as tired as they were from the walk, some sense of excitement for all of them. They'd finally reached the end of their journey. All of the pieces were together, the enemy identified and located. They were practically at her front door, ready to end all of the troubles once and for all. But they couldn't help but wonder if they were really prepared to fight her. They weren't all that certain as to _how _they should, given their last encounter with her. All she had to do was kill one of them, and she won. It made them sorely miss the android, as they were sure it would know what to do. Whether or not it would tell them, though, was a different matter.


	33. Now or Never

_"What are you doing here?"_

_She hesitated just for a second at the tone of his voice. It'd been three hundred and fifty-two years since last she saw him, and like herself, he had not aged a day. But he sounded more articulate, his voice was more refined now. He didn't even turn to acknowledge her, didn't meet her eyes as he and Elwyn sheathed their weapons. But she knew him well enough to know that, given the fact that he'd not quite simply thrown a ball of fire at her the instant he realised she was there, he must not have been too upset with her, after all of this time._

_"It's nice to see you again, Lo Shen," Elwyn put in with a curt nod. She wasn't royalty anymore, he didn't need to pay such respects. Her place as Empress was forfeited long ago, and that was one great weight lifted from her shoulders. There was one thing she never put right, though, and she could tell already Tiresio was not going to make it easy on her._

_"Speak for yourself," Tiresio snapped. Elwyn sighed quietly, hoping to help diffuse the tension between them and seeing that it would be difficult. He didn't know the full story-just what bits Tiresio had spat in moments of rage a few hundred years ago. Elwyn had seen him once, and then, it was as if he disappeared in much the same manner Hiruko had. The two were similar in that one would hear nothing of them for long stretches of time, until finally, some news would reach him. Last he'd heard was some outrage over Hiruko refusing to lead the Romans to his homeland. He was not an idiot-he knew they had no intentions of simply trading, or reaching out to another culture. He knew these men just wouldn't be satisfied until they'd conquered everything there was to have. Tiresio had disappeared from Roman sights a long time before that, when, after the battle against Destruction, it was demanded of him to become a defender of the Empire, to intimidate all opponents into submission. There was nothing he wanted less. Power didn't interest him, and he returned to roaming Iberia._

_"It had been so long. Perhaps I was wrong to hope you would forgive me by now," she said quietly, shaking her head. He still wouldn't look at her, and she hated it. How had she ruined things so completely? She'd taken companions since him, and could come to terms with the fact that they would never be what they were before, but it hurt to know she could not even call him a friend._

_"Forgive you? After what you did?" Tiresio snapped, finally looking at her. She wished he hadn't. The playfulness and cheer she remembered, the things she'd loved so much about him, were gone, replaced with anger, bitterness. Had she done this to him? Or was it simply inevitable after living so many years of being sought after by people he despised, his freedom being compromised, being insulted for his refusal to aid the Empire? She had faced similar things, and knew that the others had as well. Elwyn's aid was requested many times by Celts, Saxons, Romans... He would not choose sides, and this led to the people of his homeland calling him a traitor. She had disappeared from China, outraging her people for the lies she had told and for betraying her husband in favour of Tiresio, who was commonly referred to as a 'foreign devil' as a result. She finally had the freedom she'd always wanted, but at what cost?_

_"Tiresio, surely, she has payed whatever debts you feel she owes," Elwyn put in. He and Hiruko had always been good at handling disputes. Tiresio was generally the sort to forget about them very quickly altogether-she remembered an instance in which he'd been outraged by Elwyn, called him terrible names, and she thought that certainly the two would never speak again. But by that evening, it was as if nothing had ever happened. She was one to let things fester, to let the irritation and anger simmer until finally it boiled over, and she exploded with it. Then it would take her a day or two of brooding before she could bring herself to either apologise or forgive the person in question, depending upon the situation. _

_"You say debt as if I have lost something material, something financial," Tiresio said, blond curls bouncing as he shook his head. "I will not apologise, and I will not forgive her. There is nothing else that needs to be said." With that, he turned away from them, disappearing from view within a few minutes. Elwyn watched him go, and then turned to face Lo Shen, who was not at all difficult to read. She was quite plainly upset by the man's words, and Elwyn did his best to help her. _

_"Your appearance here was unexpected," he said. "It is as if you've torn the wound open again just by showing up. Perhaps you should give it time to heal again before attempting to speak with him?"_

_"How much more time do I need to give him?" she asked. _

_Elwyn shrugged, and said, "I can't say. Try tomorrow. Try the next day. With him, of all people, there is no telling when he will forgive you." The man snorted. "I am not even aware of what it is you are supposed to have done."_

_She drew her brows together as she explained. She hadn't told any of them, save Water, who told no one. And perhaps Tiresio felt as shameful as she had over it, as he hadn't told anyone either. "Years ago, a very long time ago, I...I made decisions which were not becoming of any woman, much less one in such a prestigious position as myself. I betrayed my husband for him." She nodded in the direction that Tiresio had stormed off in, unable to look Elwyn in the face as she spoke. "I was unfaithful. There is no way for me to make this sound pretty, to sound justified. I know this, because I have tried many times, and have always failed. When finally I was caught with him, I panicked. The guards who found us presumed, naturally, that I could do no wrong. That he was attacking me, forcing himself on me and-" She shook her head and laughed bitterly at what she'd done. "I did not tell them otherwise. I never said he did it, but I never said he did not, you understand? I let them believe what they wanted to, and they-my husband, he was ready to kill Tiresio over this, to drown him. But of course, when Water and Fire heard of this, they would not allow it. He left, becoming known through all of China as the lowest sort of scum that society could produce, and I didn't do a thing to make anyone think otherwise." _

_Elwyn was silent as he absorbed the information. He could clearly see how Tiresio would be upset at that. "I suppose it would be difficult to take back something like that," Elwyn said finally, needing to say something to reassure Lo Shen that he was not upset with her. It was a long time ago, a very long time, and the two-or three, now-were the only people that knew of it anymore. _

_"It is," she said quickly. "I tried, and it did nothing. I admitted to my husband the mistakes I made, stood before my people and told them that I lied. That I was...that I had loved a man other than my husband, had been unfaithful to their leader, and to all of them. They were outraged, ashamed, and I know I deserved all of it."_

_"At least you did the right thing," Elwyn said. "You did what many people would not have in such a situation. You took back whatever you could."_

_"The damage was done," she said. "It was too late. I searched for Tiresio for many years in an effort to tell him, in hopes of finally being absolved of this guilt. But Water told me he did not wish to be found. Now I've finally reached him, and still, he will not talk to me."_

_"Whatever happens, Lo Shen, do not let this torture you for the rest of your life," Elwyn said. "While what you did may not have been right, you realised that, and have tried to fix what you could. That is all you can really do, now."_

_She exhaled quietly and nodded, eyes finding the dirt easier to look at than anything else. "I know. It's simply that-even if I know that we may never again be with each other as we were before-I wish that he would at least hear me out. That he would at least meet my eyes again and name me among his friends." Overhead, the wind rustled the leaves in the trees quietly. Amid the branches of an oak, Tiresio listened to the conversation below, and frowned. He thought of dropping out of the tree immediately and telling her that he'd heard everything, that maybe he didn't need to hate her anymore, that maybe he'd been behaving like a child to never even give her a chance to explain... But then, he decided against it. Some damage could not be mended, and he would consider this to be such a case. _

* * *

"Jesus Christ, I'm _not _on any drugs!" Viper cried for what felt like the hundredth time. "But you must be if you think nuking Thailand is the way to solve your problems!"

"These experiments being conducted from Shadaloo are dangerous, and must be stopped at all costs. There aren't going to be any nuclear devices involved," one of the men replied, shaking his head.

"The entire world is suffering over this, and Bison has finally outed himself here," another put in. "The genetic experiments will be nullified, Shadaloo will be taken, and all parties involved will be apprehended. Now if you're willing to cooperate, and give us any more information at all, it could result in your walking free."

"I've given you everything I know, and you haven't listened to a word of it! Bison isn't in Shadaloo anymore, it's been taken by Juri, I told you this!" Viper shouted. These guys were seriously complicating things. If they sent in some black ops team, they were all going to be killed. Bullets weren't enough to take down Bison, there was no way they'd be enough to take out Juri. "You can't send your men in there, they _will _die!"

Another sigh went up at the attitude of the former-CIA agent turned criminal. "All right. Take five. I need a break from this," the man said, looking at his two companions who nodded.

"_You _need a break? Buddy, you don't even know," Viper hissed. They hadn't seen the history of the planet, hadn't watched some gnarly ghost chick start stabbing people, hadn't seen all these dragons and monsters, some Japanese guy punch through a car, no, they didn't need a break. She needed a vacation, a very long one. The three men filtered out of the room, murmuring to each other. She watched them leave, irritated. She couldn't believe they were treating her like a drug addict or a mental patient or something. Why would they ask her what those things in the photos were if they simply weren't going to believe her? Who _would _they believe?

As if the universe wanted to answer her question, the sound of metal against linoleum tiles reached her ears, and she looked up. She nearly screamed, and then sighed irritably. "You! God, what is wrong with you? Knock first!" she cried.

"I apologise for the mode of my entrance," the machine said, apparently somewhat amused by her discomfort. It could experience amusement. Just like Seth. She shuddered. "But I had no other choice."

"Yeah, whatever, while you're here, can you get these cuffs off me?" she said, shaking her arms which were cuffed to the chair she sat in. The CIA helped train her, so they knew how skilled she was in hand-to-hand combat. They weren't going to take any chances.

She watched as the machine complied, slightly terrified at something so powerful being so near her. It snapped the metal in half as if it were nothing, and her arms were free again, each wrist adorned with an ugly new bracelet. But it was good enough for now. "We must leave here, quickly. Are you prepared?" the machine asked.

"I was prepared to leave when I was dragged in here," she muttered, standing up.

The machine smiled one of its eerie little grins, and then, they were gone.

* * *

Charlie removed his glasses just long enough to wipe the sweat from his brow. This was such an absurd change from the weather that seemed to be plaguing the rest of the world. And any animals here seemed to be none the wiser about anything. He didn't exactly know if the level of activity in this jungle was greater than that of colder areas right now, if more animals were migrating to this spot in an effort to find some warmth. They'd come across several snakes, a myriad of insects, and an awfully big spider web, but not much else.

They'd all grown silent the longer they walked. Ever since reaching the docks, conversations had begun to fade out as the weight of the situation began to finally dawn on them. They were reaching the end of their journey, and they had very little of an idea of what to expect. Juri was strong. They knew that much, given their brief encounters with her. She was somehow capable of knowing them all pretty well.

The sight of Shadaloo's tall, razor-wired perimeter fences looming up ahead managed to make them all feel a little worse. Even Bison and Rose were feeling abnormal levels of tension in spite of their own power. They knew that they weren't able to match Juri's current strengths, and the others all wondered whether they were in over their heads. "What now?" Sakura whispered as they stood in the jungle, staring at the compound. The fences were high, but it wouldn't be difficult for them to get in. It was just a matter of where to start looking-Shadaloo was not just one building, or even just a few. And what sort of defenses did Juri have in there, other than herself?

"We ring the doorbell, and ask if anyone's home," Charlie said.

"Can't we just leave dog crap on her porch and light it on fire instead?" Guile muttered, really not looking forward to this. But he knew he had to help his friends. Everyone gave him a strange look, and he sighed. "Thought it was worth a shot."

"It's now or never," Ryu said finally, no longer ready to wait. He took a few steps forward, and naturally, the first pair of feet that followed belonged to Sakura. He inhaled deeply, and turned around to face her. "You can't come this time."

Her brows arched over her eyes, and she shook her head. "What? No, I have to help get Ken back," she said. "And Miss Cammy, and anybody else that Juri took."

"It's just too dangerous, Sakura," Ryu said. "This isn't just a normal fight anymore." He turned himself to stone to drive home the point, waving his fingers and tapping them together. "It just wouldn't be right for me to allow you to come."

"But Ryu-san..." She glanced helplessly to the others, hoping they would say _something _to change his mind. After all, she'd made it this far without getting hurt. Why couldn't she keep going?

"He's right, Sakura," Chun-Li said with a nod. "We don't know what to expect in there, and it would be outright irresponsible of us to allow you to tag along."

"So you're going to just leave me here alone?" she tried, attempting a different angle. Surely they could risk leaving her out here.

But they seemed to have that base covered. "Earth is going to take you home," Ryu said. The dragon in question, who'd been trailing along behind them all the while, snorted and raised his head. "And Guile, this is your chance to get home, too. We can't ask you to go any further than you already have."

The man shook his head. He did, admittedly, very much want to be anywhere else on the planet. But he couldn't turn his back on his friends now, when they needed all the help they could get. "I'm staying put."

"This isn't fair!" Sakura wailed finally. She was done trying to convince, trying to reason. She knew it wasn't happening, no matter how hard she tried, and now, all she could do was lament that. "I can help, Ryu, please!"

"No, Sakura. I'm sorry," Ryu stated with a tone that she knew meant he would not change his mind. He looked over to the dragon. "Earth, take her home. To her family." Ryu envisioned the place in his mind while Sakura shook her head frantically. She started to open her mouth to protest one final time, but then, they were gone. Ryu breathed in deeply, and closed his eyes. "I should've done that at the very start," he muttered.

"Why?" Vega countered.

"She could've been hurt, badly. Killed even," Ryu replied, shaking his head.

"I remember being robbed of the opportunity to protect someone I cared about very much," Vega said quietly. "I hope you come back from this. For her sake." It was the closest to sympathy anyone had ever heard coming from Vega. And it made Ryu feel sick.

* * *

"Ryu, stop, no!" She sighed as she looked around at her surroundings, and she had never felt more frustrated in her life. He'd sent her away. Just before the final moment, the biggest fight, he'd sent her away. She was left here, useless, alone. She turned to the dragon, who was still with her, and begged, "Please, take me back, please! I want to help them! I can do it, I won't get in the way!"

But Earth lowed quietly, feeling her pain. She felt like a coward, and he didn't want her to think that. He knew that she was perhaps the bravest girl he'd ever met in his long life, but knew also that Ryu was right-this fight was not for her. Earth took a step forward, and bumped her head with his as if to reassure her. Then, he did what he had to, and took a step back, disappearing from her view.

"Please don't go!" she cried helplessly, unable to follow the dragon. She fell to her knees, and looked around. She was completely alone here in the woods, the wind tossing her hair slightly, the ends of her headband catching on the breeze. This didn't feel right, to be here when she knew all of her friends were fighting. "I want to go back...please...I just want to help..." she uttered, unsure of to whom. But there was no response, and she felt her heart sink. It was really over for her now, and she felt like she'd abandoned everyone. If she hadn't been so young, if she could pull of those hadoukens a little better, if she wasn't so small, if she was just a little stronger, then she wouldn't have had to leave. She curled her hands into fists, and slammed them against the grass.

A sudden buzzing made her gasp, and she looked down at herself. In her pocket, something was vibrating, and she fished it out. It was Vega's phone. She still had it, as he'd entrusted both it and the music player to her. He went off on some tangent about how they should preserve whatever art and technology they could, as there was no way to know how all of these disasters would end. No way to know what condition would society be in, after everything was said and done. She stared at the screen, the little green android staring back as a number she didn't recognise displayed beneath it. He didn't have a name affixed to it, either, so she could assume it was a wrong number. After all, Vega had been 'missing' or 'dead' for a few months now. Who would be calling him?

Curiosity finally overcoming her, she swiped a thumb over the screen to answer it, held it up to her ear, and said, "Hello?"

It was silent for a horrible, tense second, and then she heard a somewhat familiar voice. "So, where are you guys today? A thousand years in the future? The Defenestration of Prague? Or maybe the Taco Bell just up the road, to make things easy on me?" Sakura felt her lips twitch up as the woman finished up her sarcastic mini-rant, and laughed.

"Maya!" she cried. "You're all right!"

"Yeah, you're making me blush here kid, what's going on?" she asked.

"Ryu and Chun-Li and everyone are going after Juri, for good," she answered.

"Without me? I'm insulted," Maya said, though plainly she wasn't.

"They left me behind too," Sakura admitted with defeat.

"Well, why don't we pay those jerks a visit, huh?"

The young girl perked up immediately, and said, "Are you serious? How are we going to get there?"

"A seven-foot tall magical mechanical man, of course," Maya answered. "What do you say?"

Sakura smiled broadly, and replied enthusiastically, "Let's do it!"


	34. Security

The perimeter fence had almost been suspiciously easy to bypass. Charlie had stepped through it without any issues, becoming completely invisible and less than a second later appearing whole again on the other side. None of them had seen that trick yet, and were impressed with it. Chun-Li was able to do something similar in her watery state, being able to pass through the chain link and reassemble herself once she was finished. As much as Vega wanted to simply melt the damned thing, he was a little worried over accidentally unloading heaps of melting metal on himself, and opted to climb like the rest of them. And Ryu thought of tearing the chain link apart by hand to allow everyone to walk through instead of climbing, but decided it would make too much noise. When finally they were inside the compound, they were unsure of where to go first.

"Do we stick together, or split up?" Charlie asked, scanning the area. He didn't like this. The place seemed abandoned, but they knew Juri had to be here. Why else would Earth have brought them here? Why else would the weather have still been normal in this place? There was no damage from fire, or floods, or earthquakes, either. But they hadn't spotted a single person yet.

"We'll cover more ground if we go alone," Ryu decided, heading for whatever building was closest. There was no sense in waiting around talking now. They had work to do, and people to rescue.

"You must lure her out of the building," Air instructed. The rooms and halls were too small for any of the dragons, save Water, and they all needed to be together to put a stop to her.

"Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, then," Chun-Li replied. "And let us know if you need us."

"I'm afraid it may be the other way round," Fire muttered uneasily as he watched the group disband. The situation didn't seem right. This was too easy, to walk right into the enemy's base like this without any problems. But it was too late to turn back now.

Ryu disappeared into the closest building, a clerical building where files were held, numbers were crunched, and various other bureaucratic activities took place . He'd search all of the buildings methodically if he had to in order to get his friends back, even if they were bigger than he expected. S.I.N. had been a relatively new branch of Shadaloo, and as a result, did not have as much time for development. There had only been a couple of buildings there, though more were plainly in the works. But this place was different entirely. There were several different buildings, and all but a few had more than one floor. How Bison had managed all this and kept it such a secret all the while was a mystery to him, but not one he was very interested in for now. The doors were not locked, no security codes or identification were requested, there weren't even guards patrolling the area. But she had to know they were here by now. As he glanced over his shoulder one final time, he caught glimpses of the others making their way into different buildings. Facing forward again, he inhaled deeply, preparing himself for what lay ahead.

Nearly exactly on the opposite side of the compound, Charlie and Guile-who really didn't like the idea of meeting up with some superpowered enemy without any superpowers of his own, and thus, stuck with his friend-were making their way into what appeared to be an infirmary. The first room they entered was definitely some sort of receiving area, where there was a desk littered with papers. Guile leaned over to make sure nothing was hiding behind it, and then glanced down at the files. There weren't any names on them. All Shadaloo employees were referred to numerically in documents. A good way to hide their identities on a hard copy that might leak out to the public, he guessed. The last date for a received patient was...

Guile drew his brows together as he studied the bottom of the list, which was marked with the day's date. There were four new entries, and one of them looked familiar. As he squinted at the paper, it finally hit him, and he asked, "Charlie, isn't this your social security number?" He only knew it due to how much paperwork he had to look at and fill out when Charlie went missing. The blond in question squinted at the writing and snorted.

"Son of a bitch, it is," he muttered. "And this one is Chun-Li's badge number from Interpol." He pointed to the second on the list.

"Three guesses of who the other two are, then," Guile said.

"All four are marked DOA," Charlie said quietly.

Guile shook his head fervently. "No, no. Nobody's dying. Whoever wrote that is just trying to get in our heads."

Charlie nodded slowly, but put the clipboard back down on the desk. "Let's keep moving, then," he said, nodding down the hall that was lined with closed doors.

Vega was inspecting a similarly perplexing note left conveniently for him to find in the reception area of the Shadaloo's laboratory. This building was where Bison conducted nearly all of his experiments-from cloning, to testing the limits of psycho power, to building new machines and weapons, it generally happened here. Vega hadn't ever really been interested in many of the oddities that Bison worked at, until he found out the man was working towards what essentially amounted to immortality through the transfer of one's soul to a new body. He'd lost the data he'd collected once he'd been whisked away by Fire to an utterly dismal future. Now, with S.I.N. destroyed, there was very little chance of getting it back.

But he did, undoubtedly, have bigger issues to worry about currently as he stared down the corridor where several labs sat, probably-hopefully-empty. The paper in his hand noted that some kind of chemistry-related test would be happening in a room on the second floor, today. The only thing about that which really bothered him was the fact that the test subject was, apparently, himself, and the one giving the test was a surprise, he supposed. The string of numbers which stood in as a name in Shadaloo had been blacked out. No other information-such as the object of the test or what materials would be involved-had been filled out. Crumpling the paper, he tossed it back over at the desk and shook his head. There were three floors of lab rooms here, and he needed to get moving. Juri could be anywhere, and the people she'd kidnapped and turned into her pawns were around here somewhere as well. He could care less about finding any of them, save one.

Chun-Li found herself wandering silent halls in what seemed to be some kind of living quarters. This was by far the biggest building, although it only stood at four stories. There were two of them, however, and it could take some time to get through all of the rooms. But surely, they wouldn't have to go through every room to find what they were looking for? Juri must've known they were here, after all. But why hadn't she shown herself yet?

She crept through the quiet hallways, doing her best to not make any noise. It seemed impossible, given the lack of other ambient noises. Her own breathing seemed thunderous, every footstep shattering the tense silence. But nothing had come running for her yet. Although, with all of these doors and rooms, she was made even more nervous. Anyone-or anything, for that matter-could have been hiding in them. Should she pass by without inspecting thoroughly enough, something could easily sneak its way up behind her, and catch her off guard. But how much time could she spare studying every one of these rooms? It was awful, knowing that they were running out of time, but also that there was so much to still explore. Even with all of them splitting up-something she didn't feel was a viable plan, given how powerful Juri was-it would take a while to get through all of the buildings and rooms.

Bison, on the other hand, had made what felt like the most obvious decision in the beginning of his search-the security room. He'd watched as everyone disbanded with a roll of his eyes, and headed right for the room which displayed feeds of nearly every area of Shadaloo. If there was anything going on, the cameras would pick it up, and he would know exactly where to go. Rose followed him. This fight, she realised, wasn't theirs, and even if they did run into Juri, they would not be able to do what was necessary to stop her. And Bison's decision had been the most sensible.

"From here, we can alert the others as to what they will be up against, or where to head if their building is empty," Bison explained. "If the PA system is still working." It was strange, he felt, seeing Shadaloo so empty. In his first absence, when he lost a good deal of power in order to resurrect himself, the place had been looked after by Sagat. He kept everything running smoothly, just as he had been ordered. A few things had gone wrong which he couldn't have expected Sagat to get a handle on. Killer Bee escaped with a new found consciousness, all thanks to Vega. His newly appointed head assassin had been very lucky that the general had been too busy with ensuring his own safe return from death to dole out a punishment severe enough for that. This escape led to the fracturing of the doll programming in the others, who Killer Bee-now calling herself Cammy-returned to rescue. In his most recent absence, Seth attempted to take over S.I.N. and was planning to claim Shadaloo as well, until Juri intervened. He assumed the young woman had disposed of nearly, if not all, of the former employees, which was already beginning to give Bison a major headache. There were so many positions to fill, if that were the case, that it would take months to interview, research, and hire all of them.

None of the doors were locked, which struck him as strange. The locked position was the default in all of the buildings in Shadaloo, for security purposes. If someone didn't know how to unlock them, or lacked the means to do so, they quite simply did not belong here. But when he tested the door to the security building, it opened without any need for authentication. He wondered if someone was already in here, and entered the building slowly. All sectors had a clerical area where one would register their business with the individuals manning the desks. Good record keeping was necessary for the security of the compound. This reception area was empty, and he breezed down the halls. The electricity was still running, which was a good sign.

"Here," Bison announced as he pushed open another unlocked door. They found what they were looking for-a room full of monitors, each screen displaying four different feeds. They were separated by which areas they surveyed, and Bison glanced over all of them quickly to ensure that they were all working properly. A gasp caught his ears, and he turned around to see Rose retracting her hand from the door. "What is it?" he snapped.

"It's locked," she responded.

Bison turned away from the monitors in order to test the door. The handle rattled, but the door would not open. He keyed in what was supposed to be a skeleton key of sorts-the combination of numbers was supposed to unlock any door in Shadaloo. But it didn't seem to be working. He sighed, irritated with this newest of problems. "Wait here," he demanded, and then focused on the area immediately outside of the door-the empty hall from which they'd come. When he opened his eyes again, he drew his brows together, perplexed as he realised he hadn't teleported. "Can you...?" he began, waving his hand, but Rose shook her head.

"No," she answered. "I think she's trapped us here."

Bison gritted his teeth, fist slamming into the door. "Perfect," he growled. He tried one more time to teleport to the other side of the door, but was unsuccessful. "So, we can watch, but we can not intervene."

Rose nodded, making her way to the monitors. "If this is the only way we can help them, then I suggest we get started."

The general scowled at her, even though he agreed. He was pretty frustrated with being confined to this space, even if it was what he'd been looking for to begin with. He didn't like the idea that he couldn't leave if one of the four were in danger. It was not, exactly, that he cared for their personal safety. But the death of one meant the death of them all. A permanent death that even he couldn't come back from. And he certainly didn't want that.

Glancing at the screens as he passed by them, he looked for any sort of movement. The first that caught his eye was the pair of Americans, wandering through the infirmary. He quickly passed over the other feeds for the other parts of the building. There seemed to be nothing. It was very strange, going through all of these empty rooms. And then finally, he saw it-one of two operating rooms housed two individuals. They were completely still, and he studied the feed for some time before deciding that they were, in fact, who he thought they were. With how still they were, it was difficult to tell that they were even alive. This was on the second floor-Charlie and Guile were still on the first. He leaned down, searching for the headsets that the monitors usually wore. Fixing one to his head, he pulled the mic close enough to speak, and said, "Test." He studied the feed of the two blonds, but they didn't react. "Nash," he said. "Guile." Again, no response. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the headset off. "How are we supposed to help them if they can't hear us?" he snapped.

Rose shook her head slowly as she watched Ryu slowly approach the room at the end of the hall where two of Juri's puppets waited silently. She prayed he would be able to face them. "I'm not certain we are the ones who will be helping them," she responded. Surely they'd been allowed into this room for a reason. She quite simply didn't know what it was yet. She turned around to find another feed, Chun-Li displayed on this one. Another pair of silent figures waited for her in the hall of the third floor.

Bison found Vega in the lab, and sighed. On the second floor, in a room full of dangerous, flammable, and generally unstable chemicals, there waited his silent, unmoving opponents. "They're going to need every bit of help they can get," Bison muttered as he watched. "And if they can't get it from us, then who?"

Rose's eyes were drawn to movement on a different monitor, and her lips turned up into a slight smile. There, as if they'd never been missing, appeared the red-headed CIA agent, and the young Japanese martial artist. "From their friends," she responded, watching as the two ladies looked around warily at their surroundings. Bison watched them, and pulled out his phone, suddenly realising that they happened to be the only people out of the entire group who they could communicate with. He dialed, and waited for an answer.

* * *

"I can't express how grateful I am," Sakura said as Maya and the machine appeared in front of her as if by magic. Maya was rubbing the side of her head with a hand as she nodded, not really interested in the young girl's thanks. After all, the machine had told her to make the phone call. It had said something about having to have Sakura's permission before taking her away, some crap about the rules of the game and whatnot. She hadn't even known the kid had a phone to begin with. She felt a modicum of guilt over dragging Sakura back into the fray. She'd been sent off by Ryu, apparently, for her own safety. But the girl didn't want to quit, and Maya had to admire that. The machine was, of course, as silent and enigmatic as ever, so Maya wasn't exactly sure as to why it wanted Sakura to come along with them. She supposed, though, that it knew what it was doing. Or she hoped, at least.

"Yeah, well, I hope you're really as up for this as you think you are," Maya replied, glancing around. Her eyes found the android, and she pressed her lips at the look it had on its face. It seemed to be looking upwards, with some slight worry. "What? What is it?"

"It is the last of the four calamities," the machine responded.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Earth shakes. Water flows. Fire burns. Wind blows," he answered. The pair of humans focused on the last one, and noticed the slight breeze. "This will be the last act before my opponent attempts to end the game."

"End it?" Sakura echoed. "You mean...to destroy the world?"

The machine nodded. The wind was more than a breeze now as it blew harder, forcing them to squint against it. It howled overhead, and in the distance, Maya watched with horror as a swirling, funnel-shaped cloud dropped from the sky. One would not have been so terrible. But then there dropped another, and another. "Is this happening everywhere, too?" she cried over the noise of the wind.

"Nearly," the android answered. "We must leave."

"Where can we go to be safe?" Sakura asked, squeezing her eyes shut as an intense wind blew over them. If it was happening almost everywhere, how could they get away from it? She received her response in the form of a brief silence, and then, she opened her eyes. The sky was blue here. There was no breeze to speak of. No tornadoes. She blinked a few times as she looked around. There were buildings here in the midst of the jungle, and she knew where they were. It seemed like it had been forever since Ryu sent her away, but here they were.

"You simply can't stay out of harm's way, can you, girl?"

Sakura gasped at the sound of the voice, turning around quickly alongside Maya to face the source. Perched on the rooftop was the red dragon, head tilted slightly as he considered the pair. Sakura smiled, and responded, "I promised I would help, every step of the way."

"I don't believe you know what you're facing," he answered.

"I don't believe you know who you're talking to," Sakura replied confidently. She was brave. He would give her that much.

Maya, meanwhile, surveyed the area for any signs of danger. Finally noticing that the place was eerily silent, she turned to Sakura and said, "Where do we start?" It wasn't something either of them had exactly considered yet. And as if to solve their problem, the phone Sakura still clutched tightly began to ring.


	35. Done With That

The events in this chapter, as well as the next, which should be posted soon, are meant to happen somewhat simultaneously.

* * *

"I'm beginning to think there's nothing here. Like...at all," Guile said as they ascended a small flight of stairs. The entire first floor was void of all life. He hadn't even seen a roach skitter by. The place was stressing him out, and the idea that some mutated creature could jump out at them at any minute put him on edge.

"We have to keep looking," Charlie responded. "Just one more floor, right?"

"This place gives me the creeps," the man responded, peeking around the corner before stepping into the hall. It was, as he figured, empty. For some reason, this just made him even more anxious. "Do you think anyone else has found anything yet?"

"No way of knowing," Charlie replied with a shrug. "No way to communicate."

"Bummer."

"Yeah, but hopefully someone would come get us," Charlie said.

"There are no words for how surreal all of this is," the other man said. "Wandering around Shadaloo, a place I've been trying to find for so long. But now, Bison's working with us, and the entire place seems abandoned."

"There really is no telling what life has in store, I guess," Charlie mused, knowing that statement to be very true. If someone had told him ten years ago that, after being brainwashed by a terrorist organisation he'd wake up in medieval England and make friends with a billions-year old dragon to save the world, he'd have responded with the name of a good psychiatric hospital. But, well, here he was.

"How do you think you guys are supposed to beat this thing?" Guile asked.

"Well, from what I can remember of last time, it was pretty straightforward," Charlie answered. "We just sort of...fought it. But, I guess we didn't do a great job if it's back again."

"You remember a lot from back then?" The man felt sort of silly asking things like that. He didn't really believe in past lives and all of that, but it was difficult to deny it now. At least, for those four. Maybe they were special in some way, and the rest of the world only got one shot at things. That, he decided, he could believe. Life seemed less precious to him if you were just recycled through it over and over again.

"Sort of. Big things. Meeting the dragons for the first time, meeting the others."

"Was Ryu as much of a tight-ass?" Guile said with a snicker.

Charlie grinned. "Calm and reserved, is how I would put it."

"You were always nicer than me, though," Guile answered with a shrug. "And how about Chun-Li? Still little-miss-business?"

Charlie tilted his head as he thought. "Sort of. But I mean, she was royalty for awhile. I guess she had to be," he responded.

"No shit!" Guile declared, grinning. "Somehow, it makes sense she'd be running things, huh?"

"Yeah," Charlie said, not really wanting to elabourate on what a mess she'd made of things by getting involved with Vega's former self. "She had a good head on her shoulders, still. For the most part." And she had.

"What about Vega? Bat shit crazy or just regular crazy?"

"He was pretty normal, just a little uncouth," Charlie replied with a shrug. "Stuff changes between then and now. Then, some of it doesn't. It's complicated."

Guile's grin faded as he thought more about it. Things changed, definitely. He thought about the terrible things Shadaloo had put Charlie, and many others like him, through. He thought about how he finally had his friend back, how the search was over, but now, he could lose him again just as quickly. And to make matters worse, his brother-in-law, and good friend, was missing, too, along with several others. "We aren't going to lose this one, right?" Guile said with determination.

Charlie drew his brows together slightly, but ultimately responded, "Right. This is the end of it, for good, this time." With that said, Charlie finally stepped into the empty corridor, and headed for the first room. Guile took the one on the opposite side of the hall, and they scanned them quickly. When they were confirmed to be empty, they moved on to the next pair.

But this time, they found what they were looking for. Guile heard Charlie's sharp, quiet cry of, "Will, here!" and turned around quickly to see his friend disappearing into the room across the hall. As Guile followed, he saw two other figures through the glass, and gritted his teeth. They were dressed like Shadaloo's soldiers, for whatever reason, in black and deep reds. But he recognised them both. They looked out of place in the operating room, with all of the hospital equipment around. After all, the two definitely weren't doctors.

"Ken, are you okay?" Guile asked. He responded with a quick hadouken, causing both Charlie and Guile to dodge out of the way. "The hell are you doing, asshole?" Guile cried. They could've been hurt pretty badly. Didn't he realise this was no place to joke around? And what was he doing with Balrog anyway?

"Ah, cut the crap, you worthless excuse for a soldier," Ken snapped quickly, and threw the small tray holding various operating tools across the room at the pair of men. It clattered loudly to the ground as both of them ducked away from it.

"We ain't even interested in you, anyway," Balrog said with a smirk, turning his eyes to Charlie. "But you, I think you skipped out on us last time. Not gonna happen again, though!"

"Bring it on, tonto," Charlie muttered, flexing his hands. He glanced over to Guile as Balrog smashed his boxing gloves together in front of him, obviously ready for a pretty rough fight. "They're under Juri's control. There's a pretty good chance they'll be stronger than usual. You should get out of here, quick."

"What, and make you fight them alone? What kind of coward do you think I am?" Guile hissed back.

"It wouldn't make you a coward to run from a foe you know you can't beat," Charlie replied quickly. "Self-preservation is an instinct pretty ingrained in us as a species, after all."

"Look, I'm not abandoning you," Guile snapped with an air of finality. "Now let's knock some sense back into these two." Charlie hesitated briefly before finally nodding and accepting the fact that his friend wasn't going anywhere. "Not like either of them had much before," Guile muttered, tensing his fists.

Balrog cackled and then whooped loudly. "All right, let's see what you two got!"

The fight exploded with a whirlwind as Charlie threw out his arms, focusing all his strength on this first attack. It caught both of them-and even Guile-off guard, just as he'd hoped. Equipment went sailing through the air, smashing into the wall where Ken and Balrog stood. Ken ducked, Balrog covered his head. The wind was too strong for either of them to advance, and they had no choice but to deal with what was coming at them. The windows rattled, and the notion that they could break had just crossed the minds' of the pair of men being subjected to the attack, when suddenly, it stopped. "Holy shit," Guile breathed at the sight of the cracked walls and the piles of supplies and medical equipment on the ground. Even the stool that had been beside the cot was over there, and all of the sanitary paper on the cot had unrolled, now piled on the floor.

Ken responded quick once the gale was over with another hadouken. The pair of men dodged away as Ken and Balrog both advanced. Ken planted his feet on the cot, then vaulted off, aiming right for Guile when the man responded with one of his flash kicks, connecting firmly with Ken's chest. Even under the possession of a cosmic force, the kid still hadn't learned not to jump at him in a fight.

Balrog charged at Charlie, ready to headbutt him when he met nothing but air. Charlie had disappeared completely, and the boxer felt nothing but a slight breeze go by when suddenly, Charlie reappeared, delivering a sharp pair of kicks-the first to the upper back, the second to the lower. Balrog recovered, bringing one of his lethal fists round quick enough to make a person's head spin. It caught Charlie in the jaw, and he stumbled back. Sharp pain lit up his entire face as he tried to shake it off. His opponent snickered, bouncing from one foot to the other as he prepared for the next attack. Another concussion raced through the room as Charlie unleashed a sonic boom. Windows rattled, walls cracked, and Balrog, even with his arms held in front of him to defend from the attack, stumbled back as wind was knocked out of him from the force of it.

Ken, noticing the beating his partner was taking, abandoned Guile in an attempt to team up on Charlie. He made his move, and Guile called out to his friend in warning. He watched with amazement as Charlie, who was about to receive a pair of knees to his back and another blow to the head from the front, disappeared. When next he appeared in a sudden whirlwind, his leg came down between Ken's shoulder blades, and he disappeared again. Once more, he reappeared, this time behind Balrog. With a swiped of his arm, another sonic boom was unleashed, and Balrog stumbled forward, knocking into Ken. "Come on, you two," Charlie said. He vanished again, this time pulling Ken back by the shoulder, and kicking him in the chest. "This is getting boring already!"

Another hadouken tore through the room, catching both Charlie and Guile this time. Neither one had ever been on the receiving end of one of these used with such force-they'd only ever sparred with Ken and Ryu. These attacks, at full strength, were just as painful as they seemed. A hurricane kick followed, catching Charlie in the head a few times. He blinked a few times, trying to regain balance, when one last roundhouse kick caught him in the side of the head. Guile attempted to retaliate, but was forced to deal with Balrog when the man's gloved fists flew at him from seemingly nowhere. Blocking didn't do much to help him against the man, sharp pains still racing up his arms each time one of the gloves met his arms. And he didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon, unless Guile acted quickly. Waiting for just the right moment, he slipped beneath the man's fists, struck out with a sweeping kick, and toppled the boxer. Not hesitating for a second, he tackled Ken, who had put Charlie in a headlock and was trying to strangle the life out of him. The three of them hit the floor, and Charlie stood up first. "Keep him down!" he said quickly before Guile tried to get up again. The man had a knee in Ken's back, and one of his arms twisted back painfully.

"He's not going anywhere, right Ken?" The blond grunted and struggled in response.

"This is going to get rough," Charlie warned as he held out a hand and focused again. The air in the room began to stir again, and Balrog realised what was going on. He tried to run for Charlie, but it was too late-the slight breeze had become a full-fledged tempest and it was all the boxer could do to stay on his feet. Once again, loose items in the room were smashing into the walls, and Balrog tried to keep from colliding with anything. It was like being in the middle of a hurricane, and they always said it was the wind, not the rain, that caused the most damage.

"Come on!" Balrog cried out over the noise. "You gonna kill me? Like you killed all those people for Bison?" Charlie didn't respond, but the wind blew harder. "What, you think everybody forgot about all that shit you did? Just like a little attack dog! How many people did you kill, huh? So what's one more on your record?"

"I'm done with that," Charlie whispered, more for himself than anyone. The past was the past, and he couldn't change it.

"Charlie!" The blond in question glanced over his shoulder as he heard his name shouted above the howling winds. It hadn't been Guile. Drawing his brows together in confusion, he scanned the area quickly and spotted a familiar red-haired woman in a business suit. Her long braid was lashing everywhere due to the wind, and she had her hands held up in an attempt to block it from her face. "Need some help?" she cried out over the noise. He noticed something sparking at her knuckles, and saw her nod towards the boxer who was still trying to edge his way against the wind to reach Charlie. He wasn't sure what the woman thought she could do against these opponents that himself and Guile couldn't. But he was feeling drained and could only keep up winds of this speed for so long. And he still had to take on Juri after all of this. He relented, and the boxer almost fell as the gusts stopped so suddenly.

Maya didn't hesitate, rushing forward in an instant, bringing back one of her gloved fists, and thrusting it forward. Balrog turned around just in time to see electricity crackle from her knuckles as her fist made contact with his stomach. The man jittered and shook for a few seconds before dropping to the ground. Charlie nodded with approval, unaware of this new weapon. The woman shook out her fist. Punching some men was like hitting a brick wall. She watched with curiosity as that black mist drifted from the unconscious form on the ground, and then dissipated altogether. "You guys having an intimate moment over there or would you like some help, too?" Maya asked, putting a hand on her hip.

Guile shot her a dirty look in response, but nodded. As Maya approached, he dragged Ken up to his feet, and threw him straight into the red-heads waiting fists. Guile winced as he watched Ken shake, until finally, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell to the floor, unconscious. Just as with Balrog, a similar mist wafted onto the air, and disappeared. "How'd you know where to find us?" Guile asked, rolling his shoulders a few times to relieve some tension.

"And how did you know knocking them out would get rid of Juri's hold?" Charlie asked.

The woman smirked haughtily. "A little birdie told me," she responded, holding her cell phone and shaking it a little. "Rose and Bison are the eyes right now. Both of them are trapped in the surveillance room. They can see everything that's going on, but can't get out to help us. But that android...he's a crafty one." She nudged Ken with the toe of her shoe as she spoke. Out like a light. "Rose said to try knocking your possessed little buddies out, that hopefully if the one taking them over couldn't do anything with them, it wouldn't wait for them to wake back up. Lucky for me, these gloves come with every setting from spark to fry, so it wasn't too hard for me."

"Well, we can't just leave them in here. Where's a safe place they can go?" Charlie questioned.

Maya shrugged as she hit a button on her phone, then held it to her ear. Almost instantly, someone answered. "Ken and Balrog are out. What do we do with them?" she asked into her phone. The others in the room could only hear one side of the conversation, but Maya was nodding as the other spoke. "Okay, be there in a jiffy." She hung up, and looked at the pair of men. "Rose said to drag them back to the surveillance room. It's apparently the neutral area-neither side can make any moves in there."

Guile leaned down, and pulled Ken's arm over his shoulder, lifting him up as best as he could. Charlie did the same with Balrog. "Pretty convenient you have that," Guile said, referring to her phone.

"Yeah. There's only two of us that can actually do anything, though, and four of you," Maya responded.

"Who else?" Charlie asked.

"Sakura has Vega's phone still," she explained. "The android brought her back."

"Shit!" Guile snapped. "Is that thing insane? She'll get herself hurt, or worse! We have to find her!"

"Let's get these two taken care of," Charlie said. Then he turned to face Maya as they headed out into the hall. "Can you tell us where she went? Or call her up?"

"Last I heard, Bison sent her to help Vega."

Guile cursed again, shaking his head in disbelief. "Does he _want _her to die?" As if responding to Guile's complaint, they heard-and felt-an explosion that was all too close for comfort. All three exchanged glances, and rushed towards the exit. They didn't have a lot of time.

* * *

"Nothing, nothing, nothing," Vega uttered as he dropped down onto the desk. Sure, he knew what was probably coming in the next room. Knew that whatever he was supposed to be looking for was in there. He didn't want to admit to it, but now, he was most certainly sure that he was nervous. It wasn't something he admitted to himself very often. Or to anyone, for that matter. But Juri was strong. Very strong. Much stronger than him, as much as he hated to admit, because she was eight years younger than him. He frowned. He was old, how did that happen so quickly? A small part of him found that statement to be ridiculous-thirty-two was hardly _old. _But the rest of him was convinced that he was rapidly approaching _mid-life. _How had it gotten here so fast?

So maybe he should let her kill him. What difference did it make? Did he really want to die some other way, some mundane, age-related thing? Cardiac arrest, cancer, organ failures? He shuddered at the thought. At least dying this way could be something beautiful-a spray of blood to paint the wall behind you, maybe bones shattering in a visually pleasing way, brilliant white sparkling like stars in a pool of red as the shards force their way through skin. And at least this way, he could die like a warrior.

But then there came that catch-if he died, apparently, so did everyone else. And that didn't bother him exactly, with the exception of one individual. And she was who he was really here to save, after all. The thought of Juri harming her rekindled his anger, giving him an incentive to get up and open the door to the next room. Him, an experiment? He snorted at the thought. He narrowed his eyes at the door to the chemistry lab, a little unsure of what to expect but ready to incinerate it all the same. He pushed open the door.

It was dark. Naturally. Reaching beside him, he flipped up the lightswitch, revealing two figures. He gave a brief, sarcastic laugh at the sight of them. Both were dressed in the same manner of black clothing that he wore for assassinations, their long blonde hair pulled back into a single braid. Each wore a mask-one white like his own, one black. And of course, the ensemble wouldn't be complete if they didn't both bear an intimidating pair of claws fixed to their red gauntlets. "Well, don't the pair of you look delightful," he muttered. They both lifted their heads at the same time, as if just noticing him.

"Target identified: Fire," Decapre said stoically.

"Absolute order: Destroy target at all costs," Cammy finished in an eerily similar voice. Juri had reinstated the doll programming, apparently, though he would not give himself time to wonder how. Perhaps it was just a good impression-Rose had allegedly wiped it from her mind.

"Initiate attack sequence," Decapre stated. She attacked first, followed quickly by Cammy. Jumping onto one of the lab tables, then launching herself off at him, Decapre swung a clawed arm forward. He slid aside, grabbing her by one wrist and punching her in the jaw with his free hand. His knuckles met the tough, unyielding cold of her mask, and he wished he hadn't done that. Cammy came down next, and he avoided her attack, merely shoving her away instead of hitting her. Decapre charged again, leaping at him with both claws extended. He slid beneath her, turned quickly, and took her legs out from under her as she regained her footing. She fell, and before he could attack her again, he felt the hard armour of Cammy's gauntlet make contact with the back of his head. Pain exploded behind his eyes, and he stumbled slightly.

"Well, my little minx, aren't you sneaky," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head, making sure to keep both women in his field of vision. Zeroing in on Decapre, he felt his hands ignite, and he tossed a ball of flames roughly the size of a baseball at her masked face. It hit, and her head snapped back. She didn't scream. He always found it so eerie that the dolls never screamed when they felt pain.

"Nullify threat of target's primary weapon," Decapre ordered, and both pairs of eyes scanned the lab quickly.

"No," Vega snapped as he saw them reach for the gas valve. He tackled Cammy first, keeping her pinned, and then threw another fireball at Decapre's back. She lurched sideways, and he was prepared to attack again when a sudden, sharp pain lanced up his back. He hissed and looked down, finding one of Cammy's claws shoved into his back. "Shit, shit," he uttered, grabbing her wrist and wrenching her arm out. "Stop it!" he hissed at her, pinning her wrist to the ground. He felt a pair of hands in his hair, and he was yanked away from Cammy. He grabbed his assailant by the ankle, and yanked her off her feet. Decapre hit the tile floor hard, and he scrambled to his feet, stepping on her throat immediately. He wasn't bothered by killing her. She should've been destroyed a long time ago, as far as he was concerned. He could hear her wheezing, gasping for air as he pressed harder on her windpipe, and it was the closest he'd come to hearing a doll express pain. Her fingers clawed at him, and with his free leg, he pinned one of her wrists down with his foot. That left one claw free, still, but he'd have to endure it. She'd be dead soon.

But it wasn't Decapre's claw that found its mark. He fell forward as Cammy threw all her weight into him, burying her claws in his back again. He hissed at the pain, breaths coming through gritted teeth. He heard glass rattling as they crashed into a case full of jars, and his eyes rolled upwards to confirm they were all still on the shelf. The last thing he needed was a face full of broken glass. He slammed his elbow into the side of Cammy's head, feeling only the slightest tinge of regret. "Let!" He slammed his elbow into her again. "Go!" And again, and one more time, until he finally felt her claws slide out. She was dazed now, stumbling back against the lab table.

"Warning: Flammable gas has been released into the air," Decapre stated for his benefit. She turned away from the valves that she'd opened, and the smell reached him soon after. "Please be advised to refrain from the use of fire."

So he didn't need to use fire to kill her. It just would have made things easier. He ran to her, and she responded quickly, swiping a claw forward. He ducked beneath, sweeping out a leg and almost taking her off her feet. She fell, but turned it into a back handspring in order to right herself again. She opened yet another valve as she reached the other table. He slammed a fist into the side of her head. She responded with another swipe of her claws. The two traded blows, until finally, Cammy entered the fray again, and tipped the odds in the dolls' favour. She seized Vega by his hair, and spun him around, kicking him in the stomach into Decapre's waiting claws. He winced, but these didn't go too deep, and instead of tearing away from her, he elbowed her in the head. She pulled away from him, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind him. Cammy was headed right for him, ready to kill him, and he knew right then that it was him or her. "Sorry, beautiful," he uttered just as she reached him, pushing off the ground with all his strength. His boot made contact with her chin, and she fell back hard. Decapre stumbled back as well from the force of the jump, and the pair fell to the ground. Vega rolled off of her, panting hard. He was feeling a little light-headed from all of this.

But both Decapre and Cammy rose to their feet, seeming to never tire. He groaned, letting his eyes slide closed as he covered his face with his hands for a brief seconds. Dolls didn't care for pain. They weren't programmed to. It was nothing but an alert that damage had been received. Monitor stasis until it reaches dangerously low levels. Exhaustion wasn't a concept they understood. He rolled over, and pushed himself up. The smell of gas was heavy on the air now, and he looked around the room. He knew what he could do to put a stop to this, but didn't want to. He didn't want to hurt Cammy. But he didn't want to die, either.

Decapre struck first, and he was ready as she dove for him. Thrusting the heel of his hand up, he snapped her jaw shut, and he could hear it as her teeth crashed together painfully. Without a second thought, grabbed her by the hair, and threw her to the ground. Cammy charged as he did this, and he jumped over her, planting his feet into the wall beside them and vaulting off. He kicked her in the back quickly before she had time to react, rushed to meet her again before she turned around, tore off her mask, and shoved her into the emergency shower. One more time, he knocked her in the head, and then pulled the lever, dumping several gallons of water on her. There was only minor protection provided for the girl, with part of the shower blocked from the rest of the lab as it was somewhat recessed into the walls. Decapre's head swung around at the noise, and just as the doll processed what was going on, it was too late to stop it from happening. Vega's entire body lit up in a fraction of a second, and instantly, the room exploded. He was thrown back, hot air rushing past, carrying glass and splintering wood with it. He covered his head, felt something heavy collide with his chest, knocking the wind out of him, and the last thing he remembered was the scent of burning flesh, and he hoped against all odds that it wasn't Cammy's.

* * *

The entire building shook, and the noise was deafening. Sakura covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut until it was over, and then she blinked, looking around. She was still in tact, but what had happened? She rushed up the stairs, moving even quicker now as a fire alarm began ringing noisily. She could see debris littering the hall as she reached the last floor, could see smoke pouring into the corridor. She hesitated, unsure of what to do. But she'd been given an order. She had to help, and she couldn't back out now when things had gotten scary. Inhaling as much fresh, smoke-free air as she could, she rushed into the inferno and searched.

The smoke stung her eyes, the fire was noisier than she thought, and it was so hot she could barely breathe. A terrible smell reached her nostrils, and she wrinkled her nose. She saw a body sprawled on the floor, burning, unmoving, noticed the blond hair and for a brief terrifying second, she thought it was Vega. She rushed towards it, rolled it over, realised how small it was in comparison, and wondered who it was. Spinning around, she looked again, and noticed a second body in the emergency shower. They had those in her chemistry labs at school, but no one had ever had to use it. She rushed to the still form, who was soaked with water. It wasn't Vega, she realised, noting again the petite, feminine frame, and rolled the woman onto her side. Instantly, she recognised her, even beneath the soot. "Cammy!" she cried, shaking the woman a little. She coughed, the smoke becoming thicker by the second. "Miss Cammy...come on!" Sakura shook her again, desperate for any sort of help. Finally, she gritted her teeth, hooked her arms under Cammy's, and began to drag her out into the hall. She was heavier than Sakura thought she would be.

Reaching the hall, she fell back, breathing heavily, though the air out here was polluted by smoke as well. It was less dense, however, and she took what she could get. Catching her breath, she looked Cammy over, making sure she wasn't terribly injured, and then finally looked back to the room. Gasping for one last breath of air, she ran in, searching in spite of the stinging smoke in her eyes and the oppressive heat. Finally, she caught sight of him, unconscious on the floor against the wall. She grabbed him by the wrists, and pulled as hard as she could. "Come on Sakura," she said to herself, struggling to get him very far. "You can do this..." She gripped his wrists even tighter, and pulled. After what seemed like forever in that fiery hell, they were both in the hall again, and she gasped for breath. But conditions in the hallways had become even worse, and she knew they had to get out of here, quickly. But how could she move the two adults all on her own quickly enough to save everyone? And what about that last body in there? Had she let someone die in her search for the other two?

The situation was becoming more and more overwhelming by the second, when suddenly, she heard, "_Bueno, bueno, florecita._" The voice was hoarse and weak, barely above a whisper, and difficult to make out over the crackling flames. She gasped as Vega rolled onto his side painfully slow, wincing as he did so. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, and looked ready to fall right over again.

"That other woman-I couldn't help her!" she cried desperately, wondering if she could get her out with Vega's help.

"Woman is not the word to use for that thing in there," he uttered quietly, bracing himself against the wall to stand on shaking legs. "Help me with Cammy." Sakura nodded frantically, reaching down for one of the woman's limp arms along with Vega. He seemed weak, and she could see blood on his clothes.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"_No importa. Se acaba pronto..."_ he uttered back, wincing as they trudged down the hall towards the stairs. Sakura wasn't sure what he meant, but she didn't like the air of resignation about him as he spoke. "Just make sure...that she's okay." Sakura nodded in response. Things were becoming more intense very quickly, and all she wanted now was to get to Ryu. Rose warned her that he would need her by the end of this, and she hoped she wouldn't be too late.


	36. Still Flesh and Blood

"Sakura!" The girl turned her head at the sound. It was Guile, practically dragging a semi-conscious Ken behind him. Charlie, on the other hand, was supporting a passed out Balrog's full weight. Maya had been helping, but a phone call from Rose regarding Chun-Li sent her to the Chinese woman's aid instead.

"You guys are okay!" Sakura cried with relief at the sight of them. She glanced towards Vega, who had been stumbling his way towards the security room, resulting in nearly dropping Cammy a few times. Earth, who had come barreling towards her when she'd come out of the lab, seemed to perk up at the sight of the others as well. Cammy was slung across his back, helping them to get her to the safety of the security room.

"You know it," Ken slurred, giving a half-hearted thumbs up. He took notice of the giant brown and green creature and blurted, "Jesus Christ, what does Bison feed these things?"

"The hell happened?" Guile breathed upon seeing all the smoke pouring from the laboratory not too far away. Vega turned half-lidded eyes towards the man and shrugged.

"Hey, you don't look so great," Charlie said, noting the blood stains and paleness of the Spaniard's usually tan skin.

"I don't know what you're talking about, this is a fantastic look for him," Ken decided, nodding his head.

"_Gracias, gracias_, your approval has always meant so much," Vega said without much fervor.

"No, I'm serious, you need help," Charlie said sternly. "Sakura, Viper said you can contact Bison and Rose. Call them and tell them Vega's lost a lot of blood, possibly inhaled chemical fumes, he's going to need whatever medical attention they can offer." Sakura nodded, dialing the phone. Charlie glanced over at Vega, whose eyes were beginning to appear glazed over. Surely if he was pretty damaged, Rose or Bison could do something to fix him. They had to, or else that fight with Juri would be over pretty quickly.

"Hi, um it's Vega, he's hurt, okay?" he heard Sakura say into the phone. "Umm...don't know, but everything exploded. It was really, really lou-" She bit her lip quickly, and looked embarrassed. She must've been speaking with Bison. "Sorry, sorry, um, he wasn't awake when I found him... Okay. Wait wait don't go yet!" Guile could practically hear Bison's agitated sigh, even from where he stood. "Ryu, where is he?" A few seconds later, Sakura's eyes grew wider, and then she said, "Right, I'm on it!" She hung up quickly, and handed the phone off to Guile, who was nearest to her. "I have to get to Ryu, now!"

"Sakura, wait!" Guile said as she took off without another word. "Don't-!"

"Stop it." It had been Vega's voice that spoke so steadily and calmly that the American hardly even recognised it. Guile turned his eyes to the blond, and saw him watching the young girl run off in search of her mentor. "Don't try to stop her. For her sake, don't try to stop her."

"Judging by what we've fought so far, she'll be _slaughtered!_" Guile shouted back. "How can you just send her off to her death so easily?"

"If you kept her from him...and he didn't make it out..." Vega paused, his lips twitching up at the corners and eyebrows arching up. "She will always blame herself for not being stronger. She'll have _wished _she'd been killed if it meant he could come out of this alive."

"She's nothing like you," Guile spat, shaking his head.

"If you don't let her do this, she will be."

Earth lowed quietly, watching the girl go and sensing the frustrations of the people around him. The American narrowed his eyes, and then turned them towards the building that Sakura had disappeared into. He knew what Vega was getting at. Knew all about the guilt of losing someone, wishing that it could have been you instead, that weak, empty feeling that came with being the one to live through it all. The way you start to lose it after awhile, becoming obsessed, spending all your time on a hunt for revenge, misplacing your anger with yourself and projecting it onto everyone else. If Ryu died, would Sakura really react that way? He shook his head a little. He wouldn't wait around to find out. After getting the injured to safety, he'd go to them immediately. They'd both come back. They had to.

* * *

She could readily admit that she did not want to do this alone. She'd been the sole pursuer in many a case, even some that may have been pretty dangerous to go solo on. But this, she decided, was different. This meant the life or death of billions of people. So maybe she had a right to be nervous over whether or not she would be capable enough in this fight. All she had to do was lure Juri out of hiding-and if she could make it outside, hopefully the four of them together could take her down.

But it wasn't Juri she found, waiting for her.

Just as she and the others had been warned by the machine, friends and foes had been taken captive, turned into Juri's last line of defense. It still did not surprise her any less to see him dressed in Shadaloo guard attire, intense brown eyes staring her down as he assumed an offensive stance. This wouldn't be an easy fight. Not simply due to her amicable relationship with the man, but because of his formidable strength and fiery ki. "I know you aren't in control of yourself right now, Fei Long," she said as a warning. "And I'm sorry, but I have to do this..."

"I know about your interrogation techniques, Chun-Li," he said, flexing his fingers. "So try not to enjoy this too much." She was a little taken aback by the harsh tone, and the fact that he claimed to know of the less than professional manner in which she'd extracted information from suspects in the past. But she tried to remind herself that it wasn't her friend talking. It was whatever influence Juri had over him. With one of his trademark wild cries, Fei Long unleashed his first attack, rushing at her quickly with balled up fists. She blocked instinctively, then retaliated with a whip of her arm, sending a stream of water to crash into him. She felt a little cheap, fighting with strengths that only three other people in this world had, but she had to win this fight.

Whatever possessed him must've been able to sense her hesitation in using her power. On recovering from the attack, he shook his head and sneered, "Couldn't take me in a fair fight, could you?" He smirked, and then said, "Maybe I can find a way to tip the scales in my favour."

She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what sort of tricks the enemy had up its sleeves when a sharp pain blossomed between her shoulder blades. She cried out, stumbling forward and recovering with half a turn to keep both Fei Long and her new assailant in her field of vision. She nearly choked at the sight of him. He'd been sick for years now, diagnosed with leukemia, and each time she saw him, it came to her as a bit of a relief that he was even still alive. "Gen? Not you, too..." Even people with the strongest of wills, it seemed, had fallen victim to Juri and that which possessed her.

"Your father would be ashamed of what you have done in your quest for justice," the old man said, arms folded behind his back as he stood up straight. Even in his old age and poor health, she knew he was as lethal as ever.

His words stung, but again, she knew this had to simply be another form of warfare. A way for the enemy to get inside her head, try to demoralise her. "I've put these things behind me. I've moved on from that. This isn't going to work for me," she replied, more for herself than either of them. What she had done was wrong. She recognised this, and prayed for forgiveness. Not just from the criminals she had framed-because they _had _been criminals, that much was certain. She had simply expedited the process of arrest by planting solid evidence when she should have had more faith in the legal system to take them down the proper way.

"What of the men you have had jailed for the crimes they did not commit, instead of for those they have? What of the people who you have used in order to get closer to your enemies? What of the injuries you have dealt, not only to your prisoners, but to the good name of justice in your quest to destroy Shadaloo? Have they put your wrongdoings behind them?" Gen asked as he paced calmly, cold eyes on her the entire time. She shifted her own from him to Fei Long, both very formidable fighters in their own ways. The situation was tense, ready to explode at any second. And this was not time she had to waste.

"I hate to do this to both of you..." she said quietly, hoping that somewhere beneath Juri's influence, they could hear her and understand, "...but I have to do this." Without any formal start to the fight, she let out a cry and along with it, unleashed a torrent of water at Gen. The force of it knocked the man back, and Fei Long made his move. Rushing forward, one of his fierce dragon kicks nearly made contact with Chun-Li. A quick reaction from the woman led to his attack meeting solid ice instead, although the fiery ki nearly melted through it. Gen recovered in the meanwhile, and headed right back for Chun-Li. She ducked beneath his fist, but Fei Long kicked low to prevent her from avoiding the attack. His heel met her in the ribs, and she winced. Ducking away from the two of them to get herself back into the open, she sent a kikoken towards Fei Long, and jumped towards Gen immediately afterwards. The attack landed its mark, leaving Fei Long to recover as she sent another torrent ahead of herself as she reached Gen. He rushed out of the path of the water, and blocked one of Chun-Li's kicks as she reached him. Gripping her by the ankle with both hands, he shoved hard, and she used the momentum in a backwards flip.

Sensing Fei Long's approach, she tried to get out of the way quickly, but it was too late. Just as his fists were about to make contact with her stomach, she melted into a watery version of herself, and his hands passed right through her. She focused, becoming solid ice, and with a harsh cry, she thrust her own fist into his jaw. It connected perfectly, and the young man fell back onto the floor. But it was difficult for her to move quickly in this form, and to defeat Gen, she knew she would have to be quick. Returning to flesh and bone, she ducked under a kick, only to be met with another to the back of her head. She thrust her arms out, recovering with a handspring and once again stood upright to face her foes. She had to be more careful. Gen was a trained killer, and though he had taught her well, there were many things about his techniques she still didn't know.

This time, she attacked Fei Long first. She ran to him, swiped an arm forward to unleash a ribbon of water towards him and focused, solidifying it into ice. He replied with a high-pitched cry, and a kick, shattering the ice and melting it. She had to take at least one of them out-both of them together could overpower her too quickly. Once more, she tried the same thing, a focused jet of water raced for Fei Long. And immediately after it became solid ice, she launched into her spinning bird kick. As he broke the ice again with one of his own attacks, she had him right where she wanted. He landed, then saw her coming, too late to stop her as one of her booths collided with her jaw, and then another and another until finally she dropped to her feet. She attempted to take advantage of his dazed state, and rushed forward again, elbowing him in the face, spinning quickly to build momentum and landing a kick in his stomach and then finishing the attack with her fists clasped together, smashing them into the bottom of his jaw. His head snapped back from the force of it, she heard him groan, and she was ready to kick him to the floor when she was seized from behind by Gen.

She should have known better than to stay so focused on Fei Long, but she thought she had him. She learned to regret that mistake very quickly as one of Gen's lethal fists made contact with her cheek, then another to her stomach, and then a sweeping kick took her off her feet. She saw him bring his foot up, and she rolled out of the way in time to avoid having her larynx crushed. This left her open to Fei Long, who attempted to deliver a fierce blow to her ribs but was once again blocked by a ribbon of ice. Grabbing him by the leg, she pulled him off his feet, brought both of her own booted feet down on his chest, and jumped to a standing position.

And Gen was headed for her again. She cried out as he grabbed her by the sides of the head. Her eyes widened as she realised what he was about to do. "Do not be afraid-you will be with your father soon enough."

"No!" she screamed, reaching up, taking hold of his hands and focusing all her strength into coating his hands in ice. It spread, from her own hands to his, creeping up his arms, reaching his elbows. She couldn't get free of his hold, but he couldn't break her neck either, and she wasn't so sure where to go from here. But she had to decide quickly as Fei Long climbed back up to his feet. Gen grunted as he struggled to move his arms, and she realised now how she could nullify him as a threat. Reaching now for his legs, she focused again, and as tiring as it was, she did the same to these limbs as she had his arms. He'd be immobolised, until the ice melted, but maybe that was enough time to deal with Fei Long. She became amorphous again, slipping from Gen's grasp, and then solidified, glancing back at him. He was struggling to regain feeling in his frozen limbs, to command them to do _something _but she had a few minutes before that happened.

There was a sudden noise from far away, almost like an explosion, and she could have sworn she felt it under her feet. Even Fei Long and Gen seemed distracted by it, and she wondered what had happened. Had the others found Juri? Were they too late? Was it the end? She returned her eyes to Fei Long, only to find he was already heading for her. She didn't have time for this anymore-she had to find the others. He attacked her, rushing forward, both fists flying and making contact. She gasped for breath, and cried out when one of his kicks connected with her cheek. He seemed stronger now, somehow, more focused, and she wondered briefly if the explosion had anything to do with it.

To make matters worse, Gen was able to move freely again, and those few minutes of entrapment had been wasted in distraction. She stood up as he approached, ready to defend herself. His quick hand shot out, and he grabbed her by the throat, slamming her into the wall. He was squeezing hard, and she could barely breathe, left wondering if he would crush her throat. She tried to focus on turning to water again, but his grip was so strong and her friends might need her and...

There was a noise, something electrical, and then suddenly, Fei Long fell to the floor. Gen turned his eyes towards whatever had caused the problem, spotting instead a gloved fist flying right at him. He dropped Chun-Li and jumped back, his assailant meeting nothing but air. "Damn, was Juri really so desperate she needed some geriatric to do her dirty work?"

Chun-Li gasped for breath as she watched Viper cross her arms. Gen considered her silently, and she wondered how much of a chance the red-haired woman stood against him. Where had she come from, anyway? And how did she find her? She glanced over at Fei Long's unmoving form as she tried to catch her breath. Maya had disabled him easily enough with those gloves of hers. Could she do the same with Gen?

Viper shot at Gen quickly, and the man leaped over her. Once again, she missed her target. "A...quick geriatric," she said, correcting her earlier statement. When the heel of Gen's palm connected with her nose, she stumbled back and added, "A quick...strong, geriatric..." She rubbed her nose, grateful it hadn't been broken, even if it was bleeding, and shook her head. "Let's try this again, old man."

So Gen obliged, and this time, Viper was a little more prepared. She ducked his fist, and slammed her own into the ground. The floor shook, but Gen kept his balance. Chun-Li saw sparks of electricity jumping from knuckle to knuckle on the woman's gloves, and was given an idea. With a flick of her wrist, more water rushed for Gen. Maya stepped back, avoiding getting soaked. The old man turned towards Chun-Li, as if remembering the other threat in the room. She let him grab her this time, and turned to water herself, but didn't back out of his grasp like before. Instead, she reached out to Maya, and cried, "Shock me!"

Not thinking twice about it, the woman tapped her knuckles to the water, and before Gen realised his mistake, the electrical charge in the gloves raced through Chun-Li, and found its intended target in Gen. The man shuddered and shook, eyes wide, until Maya drew back, and he dropped to the floor. Chun-Li became normal again, and she caught sight of the mist escaping from her mentor. "Good call," Viper admitted begrudgingly.

"How did you get here?" Chun-Li asked.

"Seth number two brought me back. Look, we don't have much time," she said, cutting off anymore questions. "Last I heard, Ryu was having a tough time with his own fight, and Sakura is bound and determined to help him and-" There was a quick series of explosions, and this time, Chun-Li was certain she felt it shaking the building. Maya sighed, almost seeming agitated. "And your best friend thought it'd be a great idea to burn down the building full of unstable chemicals, so who knows what's getting out into the air? So come on, let's get these two to a safe place, and find Sakura and Ryu!"

* * *

He wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation, as frustrating as it was. All of these rooms, turned upside down, but still no sign that anyone was here. Nothing but silent computers, empty desks and chairs. Papers occasionally fluttered when the air conditioners powered on, grinding his nerves further as he tensed up, expecting an opponent. But still, there was nothing. All of this was putting him on edge, and to make matters worse, he couldn't help but wonder how the others were doing. Had any of them found Juri? What if they were looking for him right now? Or worse, what if someone had gotten hurt, badly? It was something he missed about his loner lifestyle sometimes-there were fewer things to worry about then. But he never missed that part for long. His friends were important to him, and that's why he worried. He supposed it was better to worry and have someone than not, in the end.

But he did wish Earth was here. The dragon would've helped put him at ease, as he must've known a thing or two about their enemy. From what Ryu could remember of his former life, the enemy hadn't tried the same plan. Hadn't bothered possessing anyone, instead hoping to take the planet by force. It was why the four of them were given the powers they had-to combat those forces. Mutated animals, even some humans, and it had taken so much effort to finish the fight. But he supposed the game had never been quite resolved, and here they were again. The enemy had a different game plan this time, more subtle, doing its best to create chaos and fear, and even trying to get rid of the four of them before they could band together. Some of them had even been separated by hundreds of years, but thanks to Earth, that wasn't much of a trial to overcome.

Ryu decided to return his focus to the building around him, and the halls that he crept through as quietly as possible. He didn't want to be taken by surprise, after all. But as he approached the end of the corridor, he was beginning to wonder if anything was even in here. All of the rooms had been vacant, and the building was not very large. Starting small made sense to him-the search in a building such as this would be quicker, and if there was nothing inside, then he hadn't wasted as much time as he would if he'd been in a larger building. He was a bit surprised to see just how big Shadaloo was. Bison clearly knew what he was doing, he could say that much. But he didn't really like attributing anything positive to the man, as terrible as he'd been to people. Treating them like tools and objects, torturing, experimenting on them for his own gain. He toyed with lives like it was nothing, and undoubtedly wanted to find a way to use the four of them after this was all over. He already had at least one of them on his side, and just one could cause enough damage. He couldn't imagine what sort of problems would be caused if Bison found a way to use all of them.

But for now, the man was aiding them, and given his resourcefulness and familiarity with Shadaloo, it made sense to allow it. Even Chun-Li could accept that-begrudgingly, anyway. Without him, things could've been more difficult on them. He knew, with certainty, that Sakura and Guile would have been dead when Juri's killers for hire found them in Guile's home. Thinking of the young girl, he wondered if she was all right. This place wasn't safe, that much he knew, but how much safer was the rest of the world, given all of the problems and disasters that had occurred? But surely, Earth had taken her somewhere safe. He'd done the right thing, he was sure of it. He couldn't let her get hurt, especially when these enemies were simply too much for her, as skilled as she was.

Once again, Ryu had allowed himself to be distracted. Perhaps it was the fact that the building had been empty so far, and his worry over the younger girl, but he'd let his guard down at just the wrong time.

The footsteps, as close to silent as they could be, given the weight they bore and the speed at which they fell, alerted him to a presence, and he was able to defend himself just in time. Becoming solid rock, he threw his arms in front of him to block the oncoming kick, and stumbled back from the force of it. The man snarled, curling a lip at his opponent and bearing his teeth like the animal he was. "I should be impressed that you made it this far," the man growled. "But I know you won't go any farther."

"Is that supposed to make me feel threatened?" Ryu responded, assuming an offensive stance. His heart pounded in his chest from the adrenaline rush, but he wouldn't allow Akuma to get the better of him now.

"Perhaps this will," another deep voice added and Ryu found himself stumbling forward, a sharp pain in the middle of his back from where he'd been kicked. He whirled around quickly, spotting another familiar opponent of his.

"Sagat? What are you-" Ryu didn't have time to finish the question as another kick came at him. He ducked out of the way, putting both of his opponents in front of him this time. He couldn't allow himself to get trapped between these two very formidable opponents. One at a time, he knew he could handle. But would the two men at once prove to be too much for him? Both were possessed by whichever power was at Juri's command, this much he could see. Would their power be augmented? Should he just make a break for it, cowardly as it might be? He was after Juri, not them, and to waste his energy on such an intense fight may not leave him with the strength to fight her.

"I can smell fear on you," Akuma snapped with a mocking grin. "You want to run. You're too afraid to fight."

"You guys aren't yourselves," Ryu responded, shaking his head, but knowing his words weren't likely to get through to them. "But I don't know what to do about it."

"Do you forfeit then?" Sagat questioned.

Ryu curled his fists tightly, and said, "Never." And the fight began in earnest. He rushed, leaping into the air and landing a flying kick into Sagat's waiting hands. The man grabbed Ryu by the ankle, spinning him around and slamming him into the ground. His vision blurred and blackened briefly, but he kicked out of Sagat's grip, rolling backwards and righting himself. One of Akuma's lethal fists came for him, and he jumped again, delivering a roundhouse kick to the side of Akuma's head. He intercepted one of Sagat's fists under his arm, turned himself to stone, and slammed the back of his head into Sagat's face. The man growled out at the sharp pain, stumbling back and holding his nose. Ryu kicked high as Akuma came for him again, but the man dodged it, instead forcing his shoulder into Ryu's chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Ryu fell back, and Akuma continued his attack. He slammed a fist into the side of Ryu's head. He felt his skin split, and had he really heard something crack, or had it been his imagination? The blow left him even more disoriented, and a painful uppercut completed the string of attacks. Ryu panted, a heap at Akuma's feet. He spat blood from his mouth, pushing himself back up until he felt a massive foot on his back. "Stay down, worm," Sagat hissed. Ryu gritted his teeth, focused, and he felt the transformation to stone taking place. The last time he'd remained in this form was when Akuma attacked, and it took just as much focus to remain this way as it did to fight him. But it made him invulnerable, and he could really use that right now.

He pushed up from the ground quickly, and Sagat fell back. Ryu jumped, spinning in the air and kicking out with one foot, then the other. This time, he was sure something had cracked. Sagat gripped his side tightly, further confirming his suspicions. "More cheap tricks," Sagat said disapprovingly. "The only way you can defeat anyone." Sagat shook his head.

Ryu said nothing in response, and readied himself for the next attack instead. So Sagat obliged, one of his tiger shots flying at him. Ryu braced himself, and gritted his teeth as he felt the rock that was now his skin crack slightly. He leaped over the next, but was shoved back to the ground by a knee in his back, courtesy of Akuma. Ryu reached back, and yanked the man from him, tossing him right into Sagat. "Hadouken!" he cried, pouring all of his strength into that. He was left vulnerable again, no longer armoured by stone. Akuma moved out of the way quickly, disappearing to the side while Sagat received the full force of the ki blast.

Akuma rushed towards Ryu again, launching into a hurricane kick. Ryu held up his arms, which were bleeding now where Sagat's attack had landed, and winced each time Akuma landed a kick. As Akuma landed, Ryu grabbed for him, pulling him back and throwing him into the wall. He threw out another hadouken, crouched, and focused on becoming stone again. It was more difficult than usual, but he managed, and thrust off the floor with a cry of "Shoryuken!" Akuma was thrown off his feet, rising into the air from the force of the attack. Ryu was ready for more when he was grabbed by Sagat, spun once, and shoved into the ground. Ryu rolled forward, leaping to his feet and avoiding one of Sagat's devastating kicks. The man had a long reach, and Ryu had to always keep that in mind while fighting him.

One of Akuma's own projectiles raced for the Japanese man, and Ryu held his arms up again to block it. His stony arms split even further, and he couldn't help but let out a pained cry. Akuma smirked, and said, "You're still flesh and blood, under all of that rock." Ryu slowly lowered his arms, and clenched his hands into fists. Blood trickled over his arms, and he tried to ignore the pain. So Ryu spread his feet, and assumed a stance to show that he wasn't anywhere near giving up.

"You're a fool to fight," Sagat remarked, shaking his head.

"So let him," Akuma barked. "It will make his death all the more satisfying."

Ryu let out an enraged cry as he rushed towards Akuma, a flurry of fists, each of which the man evaded with ease. With a final, hard kick, Ryu let out a long growl, none of his attacks making contact. He stepped back, inhaling deeply, trying to calm himself. He had to focus, couldn't lose sight of his goal. He knew he was stronger than this. He just had to keep calm, or these two _would _get the better of him.

Sagat came for him first, and Ryu was ready for him. He avoided a tiger uppercut, brought his fists around into Sagat's side. The man responded with a tiger knee to the back of Ryu's head, leaving the younger man seeing stars. But Ryu still had a good sense of where the Muay Thai fighter was, and relied on it. Supporting his weight with a hand, he thrust both of his feet into Sagat's stomach, and sprang away from him, left standing facing both of his opponents. "Learned that one from Chun-Li," he breathed. He made his fists to solid rock again, and shouted as he delivered a fierce uppercut, edged with a flaming ki signature. Sagat clutched his bleeding nose, groaning. "That one," Ryu panted, "was from Ken."

Now Akuma was headed for him, diving from above, and Ryu reacted quickly. Returning his hands to normal, and his feet to stone, he pushed off the ground into a back flip, his feet meeting Akuma square in the jaw. "Guile gave me that one," Ryu continued. He rushed to the still recovering Akuma, leaping into the air, pushing off of the man's shoulders with his hands, and then planting both of his feet into his back. Akuma growled as he stumbled forward. "And my _student _taught me that," Ryu finished. "I've learned a lot from my friends. It augments my style, makes it more difficult to predict, even if the root of it will always be ansatsuken..." He spread his feet again. "Your problem, Akuma, is that you think you know it all. That you have nothing left to learn. You couldn't be further from the truth."

"When I crush your skull beneath my foot, we'll see just how much you know, boy," Akuma snarled, racing towards Ryu again. So Ryu focused all his efforts in defense, becoming stone again, pulling his arms in front of him as Akuma delivered blow after blow. This was not enough to keep Ryu safe, however, as Akuma stepped back briefly, allowing Sagat to grab Ryu from behind and tear him from his defensive stance. Sagat held him up by the throat, and Ryu dug his fingers into Sagat's arm. He could still breath-his skin was rock, and Sagat couldn't squeeze hard enough to compress his throat underneath. Ryu kicked out with both legs, trying to push off of Sagat's chest and failing. Instead, Sagat growled out wordlessly as he slammed Ryu into the ground. The young man's vision blurred, the whole world becoming a mess as he tried to refocus on his surroundings.

Sagat came towards him again, and Ryu cried out as he forced himself to attack, unleashing another shoryuken. This time, Sagat fell to the ground, and didn't move. Ryu panted, glancing down at him, and then quickly turned to face Akuma. But the man was already running towards him. So Ryu met him halfway, ready to finish this fight. They traded punches and blocked each others' attacks, evenly matched, but neither prepared to admit it. Finally, Ryu made a miscalculation, and Akuma caught hold of him, taking him by the wrist, twisting the limb painfully behind his back, and shoving him to the ground. The younger man cried out as Akuma twisted his arm further, sneering. Ryu felt his skin softening, making him vulnerable again, but it had become too difficult to focus again as Akuma dug his nails into Ryu's already wounded arms.

Akuma took Ryu by the head with his free hand, grabbed a handful of hair, and smashed his head into the floor. Ryu groaned, head swimming, unable to focus, and finally, Akuma flipped him over. With shaking hands, Ryu began to force himself into a sitting position, but Akuma landed a kick to the side of his head. And Ryu fell hard. He wasn't moving, sprawled on the floor, blood pooling in his mouth and trickling from his nose. Akuma inhaled deeply, staring at the young man and curling a lip in disgust. "Weak. Time to end this." He grabbed Ryu by his throat, and squeezed hard, lifting him up off the ground. "If only you were alive, so I could enjoy this that much more." He squeezed harder, and could hear Ryu wheezing as his breaths became more difficult for his unconscious body to draw. He could feel Ryu's throat giving way, all it would take is a little more pressure, and then...

"_Hadouken!"_

The shrill cry made him turn his head, and the impact of the attack was surprisingly forceful coming from such a small form. Akuma dropped his prey, back aching, and he growled low in his throat at the sight of the girl. Ryu's student. He clenched his fists tightly at his sides. She was frightened. He could tell from here.

"You'd better get away from him!" she shouted, bringing her gloved fists up.

"I think, girl, you've made a mistake," Akuma snarled. "You aren't even worth the effort." He turned from her, eyes returning to Ryu's unconscious form. Another scream of, "_Hadouken!_" made him turn again, and he blocked the attack with crossed arms. "What a pest," he growled. Ryu would have to wait, it seemed. At least, until he killed this girl.

"Bring it on, you big jerk," Sakura said, bouncing from toe to toe. Her heart was racing, she'd never in her life faced something like this alone before. But it was worth it, for Ryu. She just had to hope she could buy him the time he needed to recover and find the others. Either way, she decided, it was up to her to keep Akuma distracted. She just hoped she had the strength and courage to do it.


	37. Defend This World

"Ryu."

He didn't want to wake up. It just wasn't worth it. This fight...Akuma...it wouldn't ever end. What was the use in getting back up, taking another beating, surviving it, just to fight him again when he became even stronger?

His eyes adjusted, his vision clearing, and he looked around. He was still in that room. There was Sagat, passed out on the floor. There was Akuma, turned away from him, seeming to be focused on something else. When he saw what, he forced himself up. "Sakura, no!" he cried. She was running right for Akuma, but frozen in mid-stride. He blinked a few times, wondering if he'd been hit in the head a little too hard. But everything was frozen in time like this, and he wondered what had happened.

"Ryu."

The sound of the voice finally registered with him, and he turned to find the source of it. His eyes widened, and he shook his head slowly. "Master... You're alive?"

The old man stood there, quiet but resolute. He had heard from Chun-Li that Gen referred to him as Life, opposing Akuma, who acted as Death, and Ryu found these descriptors to be quite apt. "No, Ryu. I am not."

Ryu drew his brows together in confusion, looking down at his hands. "What's happening? I have to help Sakura, before she's hurt," he said quickly, gesturing back towards his student.

"It is her turn to help you, Ryu," the man said. "You will have to trust in her strength. To doubt her will only do her harm in this fight, for you will not be able to help her in your current state."

"What do you mean? What's going on?"

"You're dying, Ryu," the man answered calmly. The statement was like a blow to the chest, and Ryu was having trouble processing it.

"No, I can't die," he said defiantly. "I have to help the others!"

"Stay calm," Gouken said. Ryu shook his head frantically, turning his eyes toward Sakura. "You have a task to complete, and you must preserve every ounce of strength you have for it. This is the only way you can hope to survive."

"Tell me what I have to do," Ryu said quickly, turning back to face his master.

"You must wait. As I was able to return to defend you from Akuma, my final duty in this world, so to will you be able to return to perform yours."

"What? What do I have to do?" Ryu asked. He knew, but he wanted to be sure, had to hear it from someone he trusted.

"When I found you, Ryu, you were alone in this world. I knew that day, that I had discovered something special. Someone whose fate was entwined with the fate of us all. I took you under my wing not only to give you a home, but to teach you the right path, to keep you from the dark influences that would seek you out for the entirety of your life. I knew you were delivered to me for a purpose. I had to keep you from him, from all evil, or this world would fall."

Ryu couldn't believe his ears. Had his master known his entire life about who he was? Who he'd been? "You know about the game? Between destruction and creation?"

"All life is destruction and creation, Ryu," Gouken answered. "All life is duality, balance, harmony. It is when the balance is disturbed that a problem occurs. We all have the power to destroy, just as we all have the power to create. You have left your scales to be tipped by the weight of others for long enough." Akuma's influence over him had driven him towards destruction, and Ryu realised it before it was too late. He nodded, knowing that he had to make his own path, and not fall to the will of those around him. Gouken watched Ryu as he thought, and then asked, "What will you do, with the time you will have left?"

"I'll fight, Master," he said with a bow. "I'll protect our home." He wouldn't be manipulated by the dark half anymore.

* * *

"Jeez," Sakura breathed, narrowly avoiding another attack that would have left her brains painted on the walls. Akuma was fast, and he was strong, and now she wondered why she thought she ever even stood half a chance. How long could she keep this up for? She slid beneath another flying kick, and tensed up as she waited for the next attack.

"You are foolish to protect him, girl," Akuma spat. "You have not the strength in you."

"Don't even look at him, creep," Sakura snapped back. She rushed forward, spinning and channeling the momentum into a kick. Akuma lifted an arm to protect the side of his head, and she bounced back away from him. He balled up a fist, and smashed it into the ground, the entire floor left shaking as a result. She had to admit, it was pretty intimidating. She backed away from him, lifting her arms, always staying prepared for anything, just as Ryu had taught her. She glanced at his unmoving form on the floor. Was he still alive?

She couldn't be left to wander for too long as a cry from Akuma brought her attention back to him. He was headed right at her, and she panicked. Diving forward, she slid between his legs, jumped up, and planted both of her sneakers into his back. Breathless, a little shocked that she'd even made him stumble, she backed away, awaiting his next attack. "Come on, I could do this all day!" she shouted from the adrenaline rush.

He stalked towards her, gritting his teeth. "I've grown tired of you, girl..." he hissed under his breath.

"So take a nap," she replied, jumping up and landing a kick to the side of his head. But he didn't seem fazed, instead trapping her leg between his arm and his head. She bounced on one foot, trying to pull her leg from him, but with little success. "I mean..." she laughed nervously. "If you want, of course."

He growled loudly, taking hold of her ankle, spinning her around, and throwing her into the wall on the other side of the room. The air rushed out of her lungs, and she curled in on herself from the pain. This was too much, she wasn't ready for this! The demonic figure came towards her slowly, giving her just enough time to push herself up and try to crawl away. "I won't kill you. Not until he's woken up again. But when I do, it will be painful, and it will be slow." She continued backing away, finding herself trapped in a corner. How could she have let this happen? Looking around, desperate for any sort for help, she found nothing, and began to despair. "You will not enjoy this," Akuma warned.

A sudden, furious bellow from behind filled their senses, and Sakura grinned at the sight of the source. "Neither will you," she said, cocking her head as Akuma turned around just in time to be headbutted by an enormous draconian beast. Earth let loose another roar, tossing his head from side to side like an enraged bull, and Akuma stumbled over himself as he backed away. The creature was much too large for the room, leaving little room for anyone to move, and in such a confined space, his roars were deafening. But Earth was careful to avoid stepping on anyone-save Akuma. The creature lifted his forelegs, and brought them down over Akuma's head. The man dropped to the floor in an instant, and Sakura rushed to meet the furious dragon.

She threw her arms around his neck, and said, "Thank you." She was unsure if he even understood her, but it needed to be said all the same. The dragon turned his head towards Ryu, and lowed quietly, nudging his companion with his snout. Sakura knelt beside him, trying to shake him awake. "Ryu-san?" Worry overtaking her, she turned to Earth. "Can you take us to Rose? She'll know what to do!"

* * *

"Christ, why do we have to cut these things so damned close..." Guile sighed, wondering what had happened to Ryu and Sakura. He'd taken Cammy from Earth's back when the dragon apparently decided it needed find the two of them. Charlie said he wouldn't say what was wrong, but seemed pretty stressed about the situation, which was never a good sign. Cammy had, thankfully, woken up since then, but was in a lot of pain, and was grateful for Guile's assistance.

They'd made it back to the security room, the neutral area, and Bison and Rose were waiting anxiously. Balrog was conscious again, something none of them were particularly overjoyed about. "Shit man, like a blast from the past," the boxer said, rubbing his head and looking around. "What's up?" He nodded to Bison, who simply sighed and rolled his eyes. "Some welcome back party this is."

Ken, who, upon clearing up from the fog his mind had been left in after the possession and beating he'd received, couldn't help but keep staring at Charlie. "Wait til Eliza and Julia hear about this," he kept saying, and Charlie nodded patiently despite all of the distractions.

Cammy was apprehensive about going inside at all, knowing that Bison was present. The situation had been explained to her, but it still didn't seem right. Fei Long had a similar reaction, and it took Chun-Li to convince him that it was the safest place for him to be right now. Gen was the calmest of them all, saying very little but observing everything. None of them remembered what happened to them after Juri found them, so it was jarring for all of them when they woke up somewhere in Shadaloo with various degrees of injury, dressed in the uniforms of Bison's infantry. And the explanations they'd received from their friends were hardly believable, until they saw the dragons.

With everyone in the room but Sakura, Ryu, and their opponents, Bison and Rose made the rounds, checking everyone over for injuries. Charlie had suffered bruises and possibly cracked ribs. Guile found himself to be all right. Balrog wouldn't stop complaining about the beating he'd received, and the shock from Viper pissed him off to no end, especially when she told him just how satisfying it was. Ken was still a little foggy, which led them to believe he may have suffered a concussion. Cammy and Vega had both inhaled more smoke than they should have, and Bison couldn't tell if any of it had been chemical fumes, either. Cammy complained of a serious headache, and that her back hurt spectacularly, but was all right otherwise. Vega, on the other hand, was having difficulty focusing, and had lost quite a bit of blood. It turned out to have a delightful effect on his personality, however, as he was much more agreeable when he didn't have the strength left to argue about everything. Chun-Li had some pain along her side, her back, her entire head ached from her chin to the back of her neck, but she considered herself lucky to be alive after facing off with Gen. The older man was still sick, but his injuries were still minimal. Fei Long was left with an aching head and chest from the number of kicks Chun-Li had delivered, but declared he was perfectly fine in spite of it.

"Now, what's happening again?" Ken asked. "Why are we here playing doctor with Mengele over here?"

"Ryu, Chun-Li, Vega, and Charlie have to be kept safe at all costs," Rose explained. "They were chosen to defend the planet from the same force that possessed each of you."

"That's quite a lot to put on somebody's plate," Cammy whispered, glancing around at the ones mentioned who were still present.

"Ryu needs help!" a voice cried suddenly, bringing all attention to her. It was Sakura, with a stunned Sagat at her side, and an unconscious Ryu on the floor beside her. She didn't have time to question why Earth hadn't come into the room with them-probably because he wouldn't fit at all. Guile rushed to her side, Rose on his heels. The woman looked worried, as if she already knew what was wrong.

"How-?" Balrog asked, pointing a finger at the girl and raising an eyebrow. "I mean, where the hell did they come from?"

"Are you okay?" Guile asked quickly.

She nodded furiously, and said, "But Ryu, I don't know what's wrong with him."

Rose passed a hand over his face, seeming intensely focused on something. "He is very close to the brink. We must end this, now," she declared.

"Brink?" Sakura echoed. "What do you mean?"

"Help us get him outside," Charlie said, nodding to the door.

"Wait-" Sakura protested, shaking her head, still not comprehending. Everyone was talking at once, so much was going on. Charlie and Guile were lifting Ryu to his feet, carrying his weight on their shoulders. Bison was pulling Vega up, frowning as the Spaniard swayed from the light headedness that followed. Chun-Li was waiting at the door, heart pounding in her chest, unsure of what to expect next. "Why won't he wake up?"

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned, seeing Cammy. "It'll be okay," the woman said, watching everyone head out of the room.

"Does anyone know what to do?" Chun-Li asked as they headed outside. She glanced over her shoulder. They were all tired, hurt, some more than others, but they couldn't give up now. They had to act fast, while Ryu was still... She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"They'll tell us," Charlie answered, nodding towards the door. The dragons waited outside.

"Keep up," Bison said, taking Vega by the arm and pulling him away from the wall. "It's almost over." The blond nodded, eyes falling closed again.

The blue sky outside was gone, having been replaced not by a blanket of cold grey like the rest of the world, but by intimidating black. A wind had kicked up, and they knew a storm was coming. Earth was stomping from foot to foot impatiently as he spotted Ryu. Air and Fire swooped down on the group, causing a few of the uninitiated to cry out at the sight of them. Water slithered up as well at her normal size. "Bring Ryu to Earth," Chun-Li called back, waving Guile and Charlie forward.

The dragon groaned at the sight of his companion, could sense the life slipping from him. "What is he doing?" Rose questioned as they laid Ryu before the dragon.

"He's going to keep him here as long as he can," Charlie answered quietly, watching with curiosity as the dragon seemed to be sniffing Ryu's face like a dog. And then suddenly, the Japanese man's eyes fluttered open slowly. Sakura perked up, smiling immediately, and she ran to him.

"Ryu-san!" she cried, falling to his side. "You're okay!"

The man nodded in response, smiling weakly to the girl. Earth stepped back, watching with some satisfaction as Ryu climbed to his feet. "What you did was very brave," Ryu said. He still sounded weak and pained, but she supposed it was to be expected. Drawing her into a tight hug, Sakura blushed, not used to this sort of affection from Ryu. "Thank you, Sakura." He held her at arms length and smiled. Finally, he turned to face everyone else. So many familiar faces...

"This is the end of it," said a soft voice that carried a surprising amount of authority. All eyes turned towards it, revealing the machine that had helped them get this far. Lightning flashed, and thunder followed soon after. "Your trials are at an end, save for one." He held out a hand, beckoning the four to him. "Complete the task you were chosen for."

Unsure of what was going to happen to them, the four exchanged glances. Chun-Li turned finally to Guile, Ken, and Fei Long. "Knock 'em dead, kid," Guile said with a smirk and a nod.

"You've got this," Ken said, grinning broadly. "Whatever it is."

"They couldn't have picked a more capable person," Fei Long added, nodding along with them. "Good luck." She smiled back.

"Thank you, for everything you guys have ever done for me," she said, throwing her arms around Guile and Ken. "I've never had better friends." She hugged Fei Long, then turned to Gen and bowed. "Nor a better teacher."

"You will persevere," the man responded, bowing in response. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and said quietly, "Your father would be proud." She smiled, closing her eyes and nodding as she did.

She turned to Sakura, Cammy, Maya, and Rose, and smiled to them. "Good luck!" Sakura shouted. Cammy and Rose nodded. Chun-Li glanced towards Bison, who observed all of this silently. She narrowed her eyes at him. She would get her chance, one day. Turning away from them finally, she approached Water's side, prepared to face the unknown.

Charlie was giving a few good-byes of his own, shaking hands with Ken. "Man, it's good to see you again," Ken said enthusiastically. "I can't wait to tell Julia and Eliza, they'll flip! Things'll be just like they were before."

Charlie nodded, more for Ken's sake, as he wasn't so sure that things would ever be like they were before. Too much had changed, and there was no telling what was going to happen next. Guile, being a little more mature than Ken, seemed to realise this, wasn't smiling. He seemed to realise that there was a good chance that his friend wasn't coming back this time. Their hand shake ended abruptly when Guile pulled him into a tight hug, and he said, "I'll miss your hippie rock music."

"I'll miss your redneck country songs," Charlie responded with a grin.

"Give that bitch hell, kid," Guile said finally, letting his friend go, possibly for good. Charlie had one more person to say something too, and she didn't expect him to look to her.

"I know what you've been through," Charlie said to Cammy, who raised an eyebrow as he spoke. "But don't let who you were get in the way of who you want to be."

She seemed a little shocked by the statement, but finally nodded, and said, "Thank you." He nodded back to her, glanced over to Guile one more time, and gave a salute. The major returned it in earnest. Then, he turned away from them, headed for the others, and hoped for the best.

Vega admitted he didn't have much to say to anyone. He'd made enemies of nearly all of them, in some way or another, and now, facing what could be the end of his life, he had a little time to regret it. Inhaling deeply, he turned towards the dragons, and headed for them. "_Buena suerte, Andres." _Vega turned around, and Bison nodded to him. He exhaled and shook his head. At least, maybe, this would be a beautiful death, to make up for the manner in which he lived. He headed for the dragons, leaving the rest of them behind. He'd never felt so alone in his life.

That left Ryu. He looked around at all of these familiar faces, his body supported only by what strength Earth had spared him to finish his task. He saw Rose and Bison, and thought of the duality of which Gouken had spoken. The gypsy woman nodded to him, able to sense his end, even from where she was. Bison simply crossed his arm and eyed him critically, as if analysing him. The man had caused him no end of trouble, until now. His eyes shifted to Gen and Fei Long, who he did not know quite so well, but who had been influences in the life of a good friend. He saw Cammy, who smiled brightly to him, and he thought of her bravery in facing Bison again after breaking free of the life that had been created for her. After freeing herself from dark influences. He saw Maya, the woman who he'd thought of as just another pain, another enemy, but who had, begrudgingly become a friend. And then, he found Guile, who had been through a lot alongside him. "It's now or never, Ryu. Good luck," he said, shaking hands with the Japanese man.

"Man...somehow...I always knew you were meant for something big," Ken said, trying to smile but finding it hard to do so. "I just never knew it'd be something like this." He gestured towards the amazing creatures. Ken was like a brother to him, and they'd been through nearly everything together. Ken would drag straight-laced Ryu into so much trouble, and it was up to him to get them out of it again. They'd rubbed off on each other in a variety of ways. Ken taught Ryu to be more outgoing. On the other hand, Ryu taught Ken that there were times to be serious. If there was anyone in this world that Ryu considered family anymore, it was him, and it pained him to know that this was the last time they'd ever see each other.

"I never wanted things to end like this," Ryu said. "But I don't think we have much say in the matter."

"Gotta do what you gotta do," Ken replied despondently, trying as usual to stay upbeat in spite of it all. "You...you're my best friend, you know."

Ryu smiled, and said, "Yeah. It takes a master of meditation and self-control to put up with you."

Ken laughed. "Man, I've taught you well after all." His smile faultered, and he blinked rapidly, shaking his head. "Just don't...don't forget us, okay?"

Ryu shook his head, and said, "Never."

That left one final good bye, and the young girl seemed almost like she didn't want it to come. As if part of her knew what was happening, while the rest didn't want to face it. She shook her head slowly as he approached her, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "This is good-bye, Sakura. For now," he said as gently as he could, though such words would always be painful for someone to hear.

"But...Ryu-san..no," she responded slowly, still shaking her head. "You're going to...you're going to beat the bad guy. And then, we'll go back home."

"Not this time," he said quietly. It hurt more than any physical wound to see Sakura so crushed. He'd never witnessed it before-she'd always, _always _been cheerful and positive, was always there for people when they felt down, never once letting slip a complaint of her own. Tears sprang to her eyes when he said those words, and he wished he could take them back.

"Ryu..." she managed to say around the sobs. Finally, she threw her arms around him, and he rested a hand in her hair as she cried. "You can't! You can't go!"

"Sakura," he said, brows drawing together. She turned tearful eyes up towards him, shaking her head once more. He smiled to her, and said, "_You _are the strongest person I've ever known." She gripped him tighter, not wanting to let him go, not wanting to think about a life where he wasn't in it. Like a big brother, a best friend, he'd been there for so long she forgot what life was like without him. Who would she have to run to after school for a day of meditation and training? Who would she tell excitedly about her latest accomplishment in the amateur tournaments around town? Where would she hear stories about past tournaments, learn the ropes, get to know the styles of the regulars? She wished she could take back every time she got distracted during meditation, or didn't practice like she promised if it just meant getting a little more time with him.

"I don't want this to happen," she managed to say.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but it has to," he responded. "I have to do this. For you. For everyone."

She finally nodded, still unable to compose herself, and he had to gently urge her away. "Ryu...I'll miss you so much."

He closed his eyes and nodded. "I'll miss you too, Sakura." A quiet noise from Earth brought Ryu's attention back to the matter at hand, and he turned around towards the rest of his companions. He took a step forward, and didn't look back. He couldn't. He didn't want to see her cry anymore.

The weather had only gotten worse, the winds howling, becoming a deafening drone. Juri was nowhere to be seen as they approached the android that had beckoned to them before. It stood in front of them, as if waiting for something, and then, lightning struck the ground just a few meters from where it stood. They all flinched, but didn't move. And there she was, glaring at all of them. "You. All of you...I _hate _all of you," she growled. "Do you know how close I was to ending this?"

"Not close enough," Chun-Li replied with a shrug.

"It's not over yet," Juri snapped, livid and uncomposed. Her feet left the ground as she levitated, and spread her hands. "None of you will come out of this alive, and I'll be the winner." She narrowed her eyes at the four humans, then snorted. "What poor choices you made in your warriors. They're all so easy to manipulate, so easy to control. All you have to do is push the right buttons."

"The same could be said of your own choice in representative," the machine responded, glancing behind him and nodding.

"We'll just see about all that!" Juri shrieked, diving forward, nearly a blur of purple and black. Charlie intercepted her first, sending a bright projectile spiraling towards her. She knocked it aside with one arm as if it were nothing, and took hold of his ankle as he made to deliver a roundhouse kick square to her jaw. She twisted it, and he flipped twice before hitting the ground, where she pushed off of him with both of her feet, feeling satisfied with the way his chest gave out beneath her. She heard him give one sharp gasp, and grinned, knowing he wouldn't have much longer to live. "Not quick enough," she spat as she searched for her next target.

Within seconds, she pounced on Vega. He smirked at her as he caught her by the shoulders, prepared to burn the girl to death and finish the botched job he'd started when she smashed her head into his without hesitation. Sparks leaped from his fingertips as he stumbled back slightly, and she cried shrilly, "Time to return a favour!" She raked her nails across his eyelids once and he screamed. His vision blurred with red, then was gone completely as he blinked rapidly, trying desperately to see anything at all before he felt something hard connect with his cheek. He hit the ground with an aching jaw and literally blinding pain in his eyes. He heard her cackle with satisfaction, the noise receding as she bounded off towards her next opponent.

Chun-Li was ready for her, heart racing, and she made sure Juri didn't get an easy hit on her. The Korean girl's fist passed harmlessly through Chun-Li's liquid form. This only served to enrage the girl further as finally, with a thrust of her fist, she shrieked, and a pulse of energy raced through Chun-Li. The Chinese woman gasped, forced to return to a solid state, and felt Juri's fist rip painfully from her side. Blood oozed from the wound left there as a sadistic smile lit Juri's face. She watched only for a second as the Interpol agent gripped her side, gasping for breath. She wasn't dead yet, but it couldn't be long.

Finally, Juri found Ryu, and grinned to him, holding up her blood stained hands for him to see. "What kind of chance do you think you stand? You're two steps from death's door as it is," the girl said, cocking her head to the side. She didn't wait for a response-she wasn't looking for one. Ryu braced himself as she jumped for him, both of her feet colliding with his already aching chest. He caught her ankles with his arms, and did his best to flip her over. She spun once, but her feet touched the ground with unnatural speed and her fists were working on him before he even saw her land. He tried to block, but she was too quick, and finally, she smashed the heel of her hand into the man's nose, and he stumbled backwards, the entire world spinning from the pain.

Juri relented in her barrage, taking a moment to observe her handiwork. Charlie was pushing himself back up, panting heavily, his crushed lungs unable to provide adequate oxygen. Vega was a wreck, long bangs matted to his blood smeared face as he tried to clear his vision, but ultimately realised he wasn't getting it back. Chun-Li struggled to remain standing, the pain in her side spreading, more blood seeping out as she tried to keep the wound compressed with her hands. And Ryu slowly pushed himself up, swaying on his feet as he did so. The girl smirked at them, shaking her head at the machine which watched all of this with passive eyes. "See? It's nothing at all. Don't know why you even bothered to waste your time here."

Ryu felt more than heard Earth urging him to come to him, and he didn't hesitate. He knew now what they were going to do. That it wasn't their physical strength that was needed to eliminate the threat held within Juri. He wasn't sure if it was due to his more direct link with Earth, or if he'd simply remembered, but he knew what would happen next. He watched as Fire reeled overhead, swooping down and landing across from him. He roared angrily at the sight of the girl, and said, "Come to me, boy. It's reached its end." Vega, one hand still pressed to his eyes, staggered to the red dragon who he could only sense as some massive source of heat near him. Air dove down next, and Charlie headed for her without a second thought. And that left Chun-Li to take her place with Water across from Air. She looked around at everyone. Ryu seemed so calm, so accepting of the situation, and it somehow helped to make her feel more at ease too even as she bled out into her hands. Charlie looked more resigned than anything, ignoring the fact that it was becoming impossible to breathe, his eyes focused on Juri before them. Finally, she saw Vega, hands shaking, barely able to stand.

"What is it you think you're going to accomplish?" Juri snarled, dark mist wrapping itself around her extremities. The very clouds themselves seemed to be pulling towards her, and it was an intimidating sight. Her eyes lit up purple, and she cracked a grin. "It's over!" she cried, lifting her hands into the air, and the clouds-which they realised now were more than simply clouds-dove down to pierce the earth. But the android, calm and complacent as ever, stood in the way. He spread his hands as she thrust her own down, and as the dark mist raced towards him, he smiled. Each of the four humans felt rather than heard their draconian counterpart's command. Ryu focused, turning to stone. Chun-Li slowly became a beautiful sight, turning completely into living water. Vega put all the effort he had into letting fire wrap itself around him. And Charlie smiled, ready to be done with it, and slowly began to disappear into air. Dust, leaves, and other debris that collided with his form was all that was able to indicate that a man still stood there.

The dragons were taking back what was theirs, and funneling it all to the machine. Chun-Li felt herself becoming human again beneath the water, the liquid retaining some semblance of her form as it was pulled from her completely. She fell, sudden pain shooting through her, as if something essential had been taken. The pain from her wound was more intense now, and she panted heavily as she tried to stay focused long enough to see what would happen. The dragon behind her had taken on her own aqueous form, and the resulting water shot towards the machine. Sparkling ribbons swirled around him and he waited patiently for the rest. Vega went next, the fire racing on the wind first to the red dragon, and then, the entire creature became a mass of flames. They shot violently towards the machine, and joined the water in its dance around the android. Vega fell to the ground, having finished what he'd come here to do, pain shooting through his head, and all he could make of the world was a noisy, impenetrable blackness. Charlie opened his eyes as he felt himself becoming solid again, the air being sucked back to the dragon behind him. She became invisible now, nothing but a collection of gases, which whipped by him furiously as he fell. He gasped desperately for more oxygen, but his lungs weren't inflating anymore. He couldn't even laugh cynically at the way this was ending. Then finally, the stone that encased Ryu crumbled, ground down to dust as a similiar thing happened to Earth. The dragon was now completely made of fine sand, which swirled on the wind into the machine's waiting hands. Ryu fell to his knees, eyes sliding shut for the final time as he hit the ground, his last connection to the world severed as the dragon took back what was his.

None of them were able to see it when the machine threw its hands into the air, repelling the threat of their opponent. Juri shrieked wordlessly, enraged that this was happening. Air, fire, water, and earth all rushed towards her, colliding with her and wrapping around her all at once. She thrashed madly, the storm got worse, and the spectators from afar began to fear for their own safety at the sight of the phenomenon. But no one really dared to move.

Juri let loose one final scream, one final burst of energy bequeathed to her by a force she didn't understand. But her fight was over now, too. The elements around her exploded outward, a concussion racing through Shadaloo, knocking everyone from their feet as it rushed by. And...

The girl fell to the ground at the android's feet. Rain fell from the remaining clouds, but the wind began to slow.

Sakura jumped to her feet first, ignoring all protests from everyone else to not approach the scene until they were sure it was safe. But it didn't matter to her. She needed to know, needed to see him. She raced to Ryu's side, not thinking twice about it. Dropping down onto the wet grass beside him, she shook him hard. "Ryu-san. Ryu!" she cried, rolling him over onto his back. She laid her head on his unmoving chest, and a shuddering sigh escaped her as she felt sobs building up in her throat. Guile had followed her, not wanting to see her get hurt. He drew his brows together at the sight of the bodies strewn on the grass. He glanced from Ryu, to Chun-Li, to Charlie. He put a hand to his head, and sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. He'd lost his best friend just as quickly as he'd found him again.

Ken was beside him soon enough, shaking his head. "Are they..." he started, but never finished as he dropped beside Charlie. He put a hand on his shoulder, turned him face to him. He shook his head again, then withdrew his hand, turning his eyes to Ryu, where Sakura still sat, sobbing.

"May they find peace, after all of this," Rose said quietly as she approached, knowing that this would not be easy for some of them to handle. Cammy blinked hard, as if she couldn't believe her eyes. She dropped down beside Vega first, turning his face towards her. The blood smeared over his face made it hard to tell it was even him. Then, she turned to look over at Chun-Li, where Fei Long sat, visibly distraught.

"Jesus," Maya breathed, crossing her arms. "What a shitty way to end it."

A sudden, shrill cry from Sakura caught everyone's attention as she leaped to her feet and ran at the machine. It waited, almost as if it expected this, and she slammed a fist into its cold chest. Then another, and another. "How could you! It isn't right! It isn't _fair!"_she cried angrily, tears blurring her vision. She lost focus as her blows became weaker. "They won, they beat her, why are they dead?" She cried harder when she finally said the word. "Why is he dead..."

But the machine smiled one of its calming smiles, and put a hand under Sakura's chin. "Now Sakura. One does not finish a game without cleaning up the mess one created while playing it." It turned its mischievous eyes to look at all the people around it, surveying each of their reactions. "And the winner is generally rewarded."

Sakura sniffed, confused and upset. "What..what are you saying?"

"You'll see. When everything's finished." And then, it was.


	38. Restart?

I've revised the epilogue heavily in order to take the sequel in a different direction. I'm hoping I'll find the motivation to finish the second part til the end. :)

* * *

Gasping suddenly worked. He'd thought it was this futile action he was doing after Juri had all but caved his chest in. Something purely instinctual-get all the air you can. But it suddenly worked. The moment that cool air rushed into his aching lungs, he'd opened his eyes again, expecting the verdant jungle of Thailand around him. Instead, he was in a house. A house he knew pretty well.

"Oh my God!" The startled cry was punctuated by the sound of a plastic plate clattering to a hard wood floor. Charlie's eyes darted to the source of the noise as he sat up from the couch he'd somehow ended up on. There stood Julia at the threshold of the living room, hands covering her mouth, eyes wide with some mixture of surprise and hope and terror.

"Julia?" Charlie asked, just to be certain. It'd been years since he'd seen her. But it wasn't like he could forget her face that easily. How many evenings had he spent here with his best friend and his family? How many barbecues and birthdays and holidays had he hung out in this house?

"How did you-" her mouth moved but the words stopped coming. He could feel somehow that she was afraid of him, and he supposed he could figure out why. He'd been missing for long enough to be declared dead. And he'd apparently let himself in her home. He figured Guile hadn't brought him here, otherwise, she wouldn't be reacting this way.

"It's a long and really complicated story," he responded, standing up. She took a step back, and he shook his head. "I'm not dangerous."

"How do I know?" she said quickly. "You're one of them. Those people, with that-that-" She waved a hand in the air as she searched for the word. But it came to him faster, and he realised what she was so afraid of.

"I wouldn't ever use it against a friend," he said as if that should be obvious. He understood though, how bizarre this whole situation must have been for her.

"Then what's happened to my husband?"

Charlie paused, looking around his surroundings. "He isn't here?" She shook her head. "I don't even know how I got here, to be honest with you. The last place I saw him was somewhere in Thailand."

"_Thailand?"_ she all but cried. "Why? How? You and those people, you dragged him into this mess! If he's hurt-!"

"Julia, I promise, he's fine." Maybe he shouldn't have made such a promise if he couldn't know for sure, but he'd at least been fine last he saw him.

"I don't know that," she said. "I want you out of here. I've seen the news. I've heard what they're saying about you and those other people. That Interpol officer, that man Ryu, that-that mass murder! Don't you bring those people near me or my family!" She threw a hand towards the door, and he nodded slowly. So somehow, people knew about them in detail. Somehow, they'd all been singled out. He rose from the couch, and for every step he took forward, she took one back. It pained him to see such a close friend behaving like this towards him, but until he could straighten things out through Guile, he knew it was best to leave her alone for now. He headed for the door, and stepped out into a world that he'd helped to save, and that had rejected him.

* * *

He squeezed his eyes tighter, not wanting to face the reality that they might not ever see anything again. He could still feel it on his face, that warm, sticky blood where Juri had raked her claw like fingernails. It wasn't there, but he remembered how it felt. This complete silence was tempting him, and he had to know where he was. There was not even the buzz of electricity, the twittering of birds. He counted to three, and opened his eyes.

He closed them again with a terrible groan, buried his face in his hands. He screamed. "What do you _want?!" _Fire erupted around him, devouring musty rugs and furniture. Paint curled and turned to ash. "_Stop doing this to me!"_ He let out a wordless shriek as he jumped to his feet and ran to the next room of the abandoned home, the flames chasing behind him. Long-dead flowers disappeared in an instant. Something crackled then popped loudly. Curtains shriveled into blackened shadows of themselves.

"_Stop, stop, stop!" _he screamed, completing his circle around the horrible, abandoned home. He came to the front door, threw it open, and let himself out into the front lawn. He was panting heavily, thoughts racing manically, heart pounding. He stopped himself, catching the sound of shouting, the unmistakable noise of radio chatter. Someone else was here.

"It's on fire!"

"Someone's in the yard!"

"That's him!"

"You stay where you are and put your hands up!"

Guns were pointed at him. Had they known he was here all along? He hadn't even known he was, so how could they? Just a few police. No, they couldn't have known he'd be here. What had they come for?

"Andres Quesada Navarro, you are under arrest for-" the man hesitated. It was too much to say, and who knew how much time they had? "Hands in the air!"

He barked out laughter in response. "I am pyrokinetic," he replied with a perfectly polite smile as he complied, raising his hands up. "Do you really think it matters where my hands are?" He cocked his head as he focused, picturing in his mind their esophaguses, hearts, stomachs, brains, whatever he could conjure up, shriveling as they began to be consumed by flames. One of them clutched his stomach suddenly, and coughed. Another fell to his knees, clutching his throat. A third simply fell to the grass, smoke wafting from his nostrils, his mouth. Vega giggled at the sight of it. "You were so intimidating!"

They writhed and screamed as they burned from the inside out, and he watched. So they knew who he was now. Knew where he'd lived. Knew what he could do and had done. A thunderous noise caught his attention briefly as his childhood home crumbled in on itself behind him. Black smoke billowed high into the otherwise blue sky. So he was under arrest. If he was going down, the world would go with him.

* * *

When she awoke, she felt a strange sense of peace. She was not generally an anxious person, or often worried. She preferred to think of herself as focused and career-oriented. She was used to being stressed. But for this brief moment, she felt calm. As she opened her eyes, she was relieved somehow to see the familiar ceiling of her apartment. She was in her own bed. There was no immediate cause for panic.

She did have to wonder though, how it was that it wasn't broken. That big dragon had sat in it, and it collapsed. Maybe this meant that had all been a dream. She lifted a hand, as if to prove this theory to herself, but when she was still able to send sparkling droplets of water through the air, and disperse them again, she sighed. This was reality for her.

But this suddenly dragged her from her peaceful state of mind. She could still do this. So that meant Vega...

She jumped to her feet and ran out into her living room. She put the television on to a news station in a flash, and didn't even breathe, as if the noise would make her miss something. It wasn't long ago that she and the others had put a stop to Juri and destruction. It could have even been the same day. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten here, after all. The television was pouring out information. The world had been fixed, somehow. The temperatures were climbing back to normal summer heights. Clouds were disappearing, lifting the veil from the earth. The oceans were somehow receding back to their prior shores. Miracle after miracle, and the reporters didn't know what to make of it.

And then there were familiar faces. Chun-Li felt her heart sink as she read the words 'fugitives' over their pictures. Her official Interpol ID photo had been submitted. Charlie's from the Air Force. Some paparazzi shot of Vega at some event, grinning like some sort of sly, evil cat. And all they had of Ryu was grainy security camera footage. She felt it somewhat heartwarming that no one who had a photo of him was willing to give him up. They knew he wasn't a fugitive. He was a hero.

The information wasn't coming fast enough for Chun-Li. How had they been labeled this way? Their supernatural skills had been exposed to the world, and the world was apparently terrified. Opinions ranged from having them taken in for studying to keeping them all imprisoned for fear that they might threaten the safety of society. She felt her blood boiling at some of these more awful suggestions. So the world knew who they were, but not what they'd gone through to save it? She turned off the television angrily, and turned away.

Whether she wanted to be or not, she was a fugitive now.

* * *

"Ryuuuuu!"

His mouth twitched involuntarily at the voice. Was that...

"Ryuuu!"

_Dan Hibiki?_ Ryu shot up into a sitting position. First, he had to assess the fact that he was alive. That was fortunate. Second, there was the fact that he was in his own simple home. This was welcomed. Third, he had to figure out why Dan Hibiki was calling for him. He stood up, feeling refreshed and marveling at the fact that he'd made it out of everything alive in the end. He had to figure, someone had done this for him as a reward for winning the game. It was the only way he could still be breathing.

He headed for his front door, hearing another wail of his name just outside and hurrying footsteps. He opened the door, and stared at Dan. "Yes?" he answered simply.

"Oh! Oh you're here! She was right! She said some android said you'd be here and I wondered what she was on about and-"

"Who?" Ryu focused on the mention of this android, and knew it had to be Creation.

"Sakura! She called me, said it was urgent that I get to you immediately!"

"Called you? Why didn't she come here herself?" Ryu wondered. Could she be in some sort of danger?

"She said she was in Thailand. She never even phoned or anything to tell me she was going on vacation!" So Sakura was still in Thailand? Could it really have been the same day that he'd been there? Everything felt so distant. But he'd been through so many other strange things, he supposed he couldn't start ruling it out now. "Anyway! She said I had to warn you!"

"Warn me about what?" Ryu asked.

"That the whole world knows who you are now, and what you can do. She said you would know what that meant, and I'm sure it's very impressive but it's probably no match for my-"

"I'm sorry, but I have to go now." Ryu closed the door, feeling that Dan could have no more pertinent information for him now. He knew what he needed to know. And he knew it meant he had to disappear, quick. The world would be searching for him, and he couldn't let them find him. 


End file.
